Ties That Bind
by AJedistuckintheMatrix
Summary: Lin Beifong was never meant to be a mother. So when she took in a little earthbender boy from the streets, she'd been certain that it wouldn't end well. She was also fairly certain that his firebender brother would be the death of them, and a rich girl would always live to please her father. Luckily she'd been wrong on all counts. They were family now...whether they like it or not.
1. Alpha

__ "Hello Republic City! This is Shiro Shinobi reporting live with a Beifong Family Recap! After running into a six-year-old street kid named Bolin, Chief Lin Beifong, otherwise known as the 'Iron Maiden' took the boy in simply to keep him alive and out of the gutters. After a few months of bonding, the two began to look at each other as mother and son.__

__ Meanwhile back on the streets, Mako, Bolin's older brother, mistakenly thought that he'd been sold out to the cops and hid from the family search party under the assumed name 'Ash'. Eight years later, and nearing full-fledged Triple Threat membership, he received word that his little brother was trying to find him. Not to put him in jail, but to bring him into a home. Mako took his chances by going to the police in search for his brother and was immediately brought into the family. __

__ The three had their ups and downs, but that was nothing compared to the problems they faced during the Equalist Movement. When Bolin was wrongfully captured as a triad member with Lightning Bolt Zolt, his adopted mother came to his rescue, but was forced to sacrifice herself in order to save him. Amon equalized and imprisoned her in a secret underground prison, prompting Bolin and Mako to join Tarrlok's task force to find her. But bad luck followed them as they were wounded in the raids, leaving them vulnerable and an easy bargaining chip for Amon to use for Lin's complacency during her weeks in incarceration.__

__ After being betrayed by long time family friend turned enemy, Hiroshi Sato, Bolin, Mako and their friend Avatar Korra found themselves in equalist custody with Chief Beifong, but soon escaped with the help of loyal friend Asami Sato. Having nowhere to go, the young heiress was welcomed into the Beifong home, becoming the third teenager in the Chief's charge. Together, after taking a few hard knocks, this ragtag family helped in the extraction of Amon and his equalists. __

__ Amon and his bloodbending brother, former Councilman Tarrlok were put behind bars on various charges. Hiroshi Sato escaped in the chaos and sought refugee in the city of Zaofu..."__

Bolin couldn't see a thing, but he could hear people chanting his name. Or was that his opponent's name? There was no way to tell. He could feel the ground beneath him and the heartbeat of the opposition. It was slow and steady, like there was never a doubt who would win this fight. And that may be the case, but he was going to go down swinging, like any Beifong should.

He felt a chunk of earth rise and come sailing towards him. He ducked and rolled away, quickly bringing up a barrier between them. It was destroyed in a millisecond, so he was forced to jump to the right to avoid and onslaught of small rocks speeding his direction. Punching the ground, he caused several pillars to trap his opponent in a makeshift cage. They were broke into to pieces and sent back. This was no use. Whatever he threw at the woman, she just dodged, blocked or used for ammunition. Then, the noise he feared the worst, the one he knew would be coming at some point, was heard. It was the sound of metal scraping against metal.

"Guess earthbending practice is over." Bolin moved one step to the left and they planted themselves into the ground right behind him. Now that the real training had begun, the teenager tore off his blindfold, "Whoa!" He hit the dirt as the cables shot back at alarming speed, moving upwards and narrowly missing his head as they did, "Mom!". He almost called 'misconduct' as she clearly wasn't fighting fair, but what was the point? She'd just remind him that no criminal was ever going to put up a 'fair' fight, and she wasn't training him to play, but to survive.

He extended his arm blades and ran towards her, dodging one cable, jumping over a newly created hole, using the earth to propel himself upwards and coming down to swing at his adversary. Her blade extended to meet his in the air, and she let gravity pull him to the ground. Landing on one knee, he used his other blade to try to get at her stomach, which she blocked again.

The chanting grew louder as their sparring match turned into a sword fight. A fight of youthful-stamina verses age-earned experience. Each took turns attacking and blocking, his mom kicked his shin to make him stumble and went for a match-calling move, so he used the cables on his belt. Wrapping the metal around her arm and flinging it upwards. Not only did it stop her attack, it sent her flying in the process. Unfortunately for Bolin, she used this to her advantage as well. Kicking off the metal ceiling, the chief dove downwards, using her body as momentum and bawling up her hands. When her fists made contact with the earth, dirt and rocks went in every direction, covering the crowd as well as throwing Bolin against the wall. He fell down, but he wasn't ready to give up yet. The dust hadn't settled yet, whether it naturally hung in the air or his mom manipulated it so, no one knew. He closed his eyes, using his feet to see once more.

All blades were still extending, all cables at the ready, both combatants knew that the match would be over within the next few moves. Bolin remembered what his Grammy Toph used to say, 'wait and listen, Rhyolite, let 'em come to you for their butt whooping', but apparently his mom remembered the earthbending proverb as well, because she was waiting as well. The stand off was tense, the crowd was quiet. Bolin rushed forward. Getting almost in arm's reach before ducking back in a fake out, missing a cable by an inch. Earth and metal moved at amazing speeds, made all the more dangerous by the fact that neither could see much and it took many years to develop seismic sense enough to be a proficient replacement for eyesight.

Finally, in one earthbending move, the dust settled to the ground, and the victor stood over the beaten. From his position, Bolin started to laugh at his accomplishment.

"What are you laughing about, Boy? You lost." Lin asked her son with a raised eyebrow. Sitting up, he smiled his cheekiest smile.

"You broke a sweat!" He pointed out the few beads of liquid coming down from her brow, "You actually had to break a sweat to beat me." There was a murmur in their audience. Some seemed to wonder if the kid had a death wish, some acknowledged the teenager's small achievement. He was getting stronger. With arms crossed, Lin went to defend her pride.

"Just remember that I'm standing and you're not." if not for the laughter of the police officers, they may have heard Asami as she leaned over to Korra and her boyfriend Mako,

"The alpha badgermole establishes dominance over the young male..." and they would've heard more snickering.

"No, I'm sure not standing.", Bolin admitted, "Not yet."

"Keep dreaming, Boy." she sneered. It'd be a while before he could beat her, if he could at all. As much as she'd love to encourage him, she wouldn't set him up for failure, "All of you get back to work. Mako! You're next." The young man in question gulped. His bother damaged her pride, now to...well to 'establish dominance over the young' as Asami so accurately put it, she was going to give him a serious beating...um..._workout_.

"Well," Asami said very sweetly, as she started to back away, "I'll see you guys later."

"And where do you think you're going?" The older woman asked with a sneer

"Oh, I was going to," she nervously played with her hair, "take Tǎoyàn for a walk?" They all turned to look at Tǎoyàn for second. From his designated spot in the corner, Lin's pet sealhound sat stiffly while awaiting a command from his master, like any well trained police animal, and seemed content to stay there for the time being.

"Nice try, but you're not getting out of it that easily." She really thought these kids would be better liars by now.

* * *

><p>"So, you're an inventor?" It hadn't taken long for Hiroshi's talent to be noticed by the city's highest citizens. Now all he had to do was establish good relationships with those in power to live a comfortable life. So, with a humble smile, he turned to a man who was admiring his work.<p>

"That's right." Hiroshi told the matriarch's husband, Baatar, pleasantly. After all, he had almost no reason to be anything but pleasant...almost. Zaofu was nothing like Beifong described it, the 'pretty city for liars, thieves and murderers' was actually a beautiful city for artisans, engineers and people who generally wanted to be left alone by the outside world. The only downside was...Zaofu was full of benders. Why, he'd already seen several statues of Toph Beifong. The leader of the Metal Clan was an excellent metalbender, and at least one of her children would probably grow up to be. So his stay here was turning out to be both easier, and much more difficult than he imagined.

"We could certainly use one. We have a position open, if you want it."

"Well, I'd be honored."


	2. Formalities

Well, it'd been a month since the equalist fiasco ended, but finally the chaos settled down enough that Bolin and Mako could get a couple days off to find a new place to live. Mako held a newspaper with home adds while Bolin held a Republic City map and list of names his mom gave to them. The map had many areas in the city marked off, meaning that they were off limits for not being very police-friendly areas. The list was composed of known scam artists (with their aliases) that have worked in the available districts.

"Alright, here's one." Mako dragged the map over to the right to get a better look, "It's in a good area, being rented out by a guy named Kang. That on the list?"

"Let me see...nope. We're good to go." They headed downtown, to a red brick building with a green roof. After a tour, they found it to be a little small for their liking, but for the price Kang was asking, who could complain? And the best part was, they could move in tomorrow morning, with plenty of time to get ready for the city's grand ball.

…...

"Well, that's the last box." Asami said with relief as the job was done, which just meant that everything was in the apartment, if not in it's proper place. But they had plenty of time, it was barely ten o'clock, "So, go clean up get your uniforms on. I'll be back in a little while." Both boys had been accepted into the police academy, to the surprise of no one, and to show off they decided to wear the uniform instead of a formal suit. It was supposed to be a celebration of moving forward, after all. The Council said that they not only wanted to thank their avatar for a job well done, but make an announcement that would change the Republic for the better.

Asami's idea of 'a while' turned out to be much longer than most peoples'. With each passing moment, Bolin sat idly by as his brother get more and more jittery. After about five and a half hours of watching his closest relative slip further and further into madness, they both were saved by a knock on the door.

"There you are Asami." From the way Mako spoke, Bolin would've thought that Asami had gotten lost...in Triple Threat territory. The man sounded like he hadn't expected to see her ever again, "What took you so long?"

"Mako, please." Bolin said in a snobbish voice with a matching smile, "A look like _that_ doesn't happen instantly." He let out a whistle, "Lookin' good, Asami."

"Thank you, Bolin." Asami said gratefully, but with a small hint of annoyance. Shouldn't her boyfriend be the one to appreciate what she had to put into such an outfit?

"I'm sorry. I just...you look beautiful, Asami."

"Thank you."

"Bo, could you go out for awhile? We were going to...we need some alone time." Mako turned as red as the fire he bended. Only one scenario came to Bolin's mind,

"But...won't you mess up your cloths?" And bring out the wrath of a very protective badgermole?

"That's why we need you to leave now," Asami stepped up to help her embarrassed boyfriend, "...in case we need to make ourselves presentable before the gala." Her best friend blinked,

"Umm...wow it got hot fast didn't it?" the youngest of the trio tugged on his collar, _'Mom's gonna kill them if she finds out about this. Well, that's why you won't let it slip, you dunderhead' _, "Ah, just be _safe,_ okay? Bye!" and he made a swift exit. There was someone on Air Temple Island that he wanted to see before the party anyway.

"We don't have a lot of time." The woman smiled, clicking on the radio and finding a slow, romantic song. Taking Mako's shaking hand into her own, she got them into position "Alright put your right hand on my waist. Slow dances are very simple."

...

"All set for the gala tonight, I see." Bolin's friend answered her door in formal Water Tribe cloths and seemed to be ready for a night of high society and celebration.

"Yeah." All set, except that there was one thing that Tenzin told her to expect during this event that she was in no way prepared for.

"So...you got an escort for the night?"

"No," a lot of people offered, but she turned down every one of them, going by herself was the safest bet, "I want to go alone." Five words. That was all it took to make a Beifong's heart sink. He'd been prepared to be thwarted because another guy beat him to the punch, it was a bit late to be asking after all, but not to be shot down for _nobody_? It stung a little.

"Keeping your options open, huh?" He put on a brave smile.

"Yeah."

"Me too." Awkward replies brought awkward silences, "You, my friend, look like you got something on your mind."

"Oh," she'd been caught, "it's nothing I can't handle."

"Hey, didn't we talk about this before? It's okay to get help from a friend." Actually, with such a downcast mood and the 'keeping options open' line, Bolin thought he might know what her problem was, "...Did the guy you wanted ask someone else?"

"No." She wasn't giving any specific information, and without info he could only take more guesses, "You having trouble asking someone for a date tonight? I can help. I'll stand behind the door and tell you what to say." then he thought about it for a second, "And if the jerk says 'no', I'll break his legs. What's a little jail time between friends?" Well, he got her to laugh.

"No. Thanks Bolin. You don't have to break any legs. Dates aren't the problem." So maybe Korra _did_ want to see what mysterious stranger could steal her heart at the gala tonight. That narrowed down the list of things that could be wrong, but he was still tired of guessing.

"Then what's up?" The direct approach made her smile fall and a growl escape,

"I can't dance." She finally admitted.

"...They didn't cover that in Avatar training?" He just couldn't help it.

"No! They didn't!" And she, as the avatar, did not want the entire city to know that she couldn't move a single step to music, "Don't tell anybody."

"No problem, we just need to find a radio. Come on." The poor avatar wasn't given the chance to argue as Bolin grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room. They found one and set it up behind the women's dormitories, "Alright, we just got time for slow dances. They're the easiest to learn. Okay lesson number one, position. Right hand in mine, left hand around my shoulder." Hands hesitantly moved into position. "Good. Lesson number two, movement. You'll know where to move by me pushing you." He pushed his left hand forward, "That means 'move your right foot back', okay? Let's try it." He counted off to help Korra along as they went through the song.

"Okay. Where'd you lean to dance?"

"I grew up around Asami." that alone should explain _everything_, "When we weren't playing 'avatar', I got to be the dance partner during lessons, or got dolled up as Asami's fashion model. Ouch!" He made her laugh, causing her to miss a beat and step on his toe.

"Sorry!" She jumped back.

"It's alright. It happens to everyone." With outstretched arms, Bolin beckoned her back, "And I became a great makeup artist if I do say so myself."

* * *

><p>This was unacceptable! They could make her spend a night with a bunch of pompous politicians and trust-fund invalids, they could make her come as a guest and not the head of security, they could 'advise' her to wear the most restricting dress that Asami could con her into trying on...but Lin Beifong had to draw the line somewhere...and she would <strong>not<strong> be latched to the arm of one of these imbeciles. Let alone the owner of Cabbage Corp!

Just because she came to the gala unaccompanied did not give the Fire Nation Representative the right to play matchmaker! Just as Lin was going to let her inner Beifong go berserk on her behalf, she saw one of her oldest friends, and the current head of security mouth 'don't cause a scene'. And if Lee, who usually got a kick out of watching her rage on, was telling her not to blow a gasket, she had no choice. If she followed her instincts, Lee would have to deal with her. His loyalty to such a violent psychopath would cause the city's elite to scrutinize every step he'd ever make. _'You owe me for this one, Lee'_, she thought as she steeled herself and tried to sound polite,

"I am waiting on my date, but thank you for asking Lau." Damn it! Why did she just say that? She didn't waste her time with lies, especially dumb lies! There was only on possible explanation. Bolin. It took the boy over a decade, but he was finally starting to rub off on her.

"Oh, our Chief of Police has been holding out on us." The Councilwoman smiled with no ill intent, which only succeeded in annoying Lin more, "Who's the lucky man." Who indeed?

"Good evening." What perfect timing the airhead had. Yes, he had his wife with him and therefore wasn't an option, his brother on the other hand was unattached and a decent company when he wanted to be and...Lee owed her so much.

"Bumi." She glided over and looped her arm through his. A few hours with the shaggy lunatic was much better than dealing with with a guy who kept on and on about 'his cabbage corp', "You're late." He was a maniac, but he caught on pretty quick, leaning down he whispered a quick 'you cover me, I'll cover you'.

"Sorry about that. See Tenzin, I told you I had a hot date waiting for me." Almost everyone waited for the airbender to turn red and blow up at seeing his ex on the arm of his brother. But firstly, he'd been encouraging her to find a special someone for years. Secondly, this had to be a scam. Now normally he would call out his brother's ridiculous stories, but this time he had Lin in on it, so he kept his peace.

"Mom!" Oh no. Her son came in with Mako, Asami and Korra at the wrong moment. "You're here with Uncle Bumi?!"

"The Boiling Rock has just froze over." Mako said as they all stood their, flabbergasted,

"What can I say?" Bumi stuck out his chin, "I just know how to lay on the charm." Oh, there was absolutely no way Lin was going to let the shaggy man get away with that.

"He begged." She deadpanned with a sneer, "I only said 'yes' so he'd stop crying." Everyone started to crack up. She gave him a look that clearly said 'beat that', followed immediately by one that said 'if you do beat that, I will kill you'.

"Don't worry, Uncle Bumi. I'm sure your charm had something to do with it." Bolin patted his uncle's shoulder sympathetically, "I mean, Mom doesn't usually respond positively to begging."

"Well," the gala host saved Bumi from anymore embarrassment, "I'm glad I caught so many of you here. The press is simply dying to get a picture of all of the city's most important people on the dance floor." The entire world ended for two people. Another three couldn't care, two people were annoyed at the idea...and then there was the crazy uncle, who couldn't wait to show off his moves, "I told them I'd have you all on the floor for the next dance. So if you would please join the others."

"Actually, I don't have a partner." And for one brief second, Korra thought she'd gotten out of it. But the older man's eyes lit up,

"Then Avatar Korra, it would be my privilege to join you." He offered his hand with a bow.

"Don't worry, you don't have to do that." Bolin smiled at the host as he offered Korra his arm, "I'll be her partner."

"Yeah, he'll be my partner," the couples began heading to the the dance floor, "thanks though."

"Don't worry." Bolin whispered into the avatar's ear, "I promise not to show any pain when you step on my feet."

"...thanks." she laughed nervously, knowing that no good could come from this.

And no good came from it. Tenzin and Pema did fine, nothing fancy but if anyone could do slow formal dancing right, it was them. Bumi and Lin did good, one partner tried to convince the other to pull off harder moves to show off, but was quickly threatened into submission. Bolin and Korra weren't doing very good, Korra did step on Bolin's every other second and while he didn't show any pain, they lost their pace and had to start over. But at least they didn't fall, taking their partner,three other couples and a dessert table down with them...like Mako.

"Poor guy." Mako's little brother shook his head sympathetically, "He's never going to live this down."

"If everyone would move into the dinning area," the mortified host caught everyone's attention, "we will be serving the meal."

"But on the bright side...no more dancing." glares surrounded him, "Okay...shutting up."

Formal dinners. Why anyone would turn something so easy into something so complicated was beyond Bolin. Table manners weren't enough, now he had to watch every little move he made for fear that he might 'damage the family reputation' according to Asami's teachers. Now according to tradition, toasts were supposed to be given. And as the guest of honor, Korra was at the receiving end of every one of them.

"To Avatar Korra." the Fire Nation Representative stood, "Thank you for working so hard to bring peace between the benders and non-benders of this city. I don't think I'm stepping out bounds by saying that you would make Avatar Aang very proud. I wish for you, a long life." The woman smiled as she raised her glass for the toast.

"...Avatar Korra, you are truly Avatar Aang's legacy."

"...and may you be as renowned as your predecessor."

On and on they went. You'd think Korra would love the attention, but to tell the truth, Bolin thought that she looked like she just wanted to leave. Everyone kept talking about Aang. How great he was, how they hoped that she would be just as wise as him, just as powerful. Aang was a great avatar, he saved the world. Korra hadn't done that yet, so he bet she felt like she didn't measure up.

"...since Avatar Aang defeated Ozai-"

"Terrific toast, Admiral Fang." Lin stood and interrupted. The man didn't argue that his speech wasn't finished, just stuttered a polite 'thank you' before taking his seat, "I knew Avatar Aang. He was the first friend my mother had." she swayed the glass in her hand slightly, "I remember, when he became bedridden, my mother took his hand and said, 'I'm going to miss you, Avatar Aang'." She, with Tenzin and Bumi smiled bittersweetly at the memory, " That was the first time my mother ever called him that and he wouldn't put up with it. With a raised fist he said, and I quote," she was joined by the brothers "'That's 'Twinkle Toes' to you, Rock-Head'.'" She waited for the laughter to die down, "I don't think my mother had ever laughed so hard. He was a good friend. The man was on his _deathbed_, and he was trying to make everyone _else _feel better about it." By now everyone was wondering where she was going with this, "Avatar Aang was kind, selfless, patient and humble. He was a damn fine avatar."

"Here, here."someone shouted, and everyone raised their glasses. Korra slunk down in her seat.

"But he's gone now." she said solemnly, "Our new avatar is a stubborn, arrogant, hotheaded teenager." You could have heard a pin drop.

"Lin!" Tenzin rebuked. His eyes wide with disbelief.

"Shut it. I got something to say. You've all been telling the kid all of the hopes you have for her life. From what I gather, your only hope is for her to be just like Aang. So here are my hopes for her." Lin turned her focus to Korra, "I hope that you will use your own strengths to help the world and not waste time trying to be someone you're not. I hope that you never feel sorry for not living up to any stupid expectations. And most of all, I hope that you somehow manage to step out of Aang's shadow and be accepted for who you are, not for who you used to be." Then she raised her glass, downed the alcohol in one gulp and left the table.


	3. Expectations

Lin headed home immediately after blowing up at the gala. Now she sat in her personal library, in her own comfortable clothes, reading a new book and mindlessly stroking the sealhound head in her lap. Just as she had the first to chapters finished, Tǎoyàn's ears perked up. The chief's defenses rose until the hound wagged his tail happily, leaping off of the couch and sitting at attention by the front door. If Tǎoyàn was so excited, Lin didn't have to use seismic sense to know who it was and so she didn't bother to get up.

"Knock, knock." Without actually knocking, Bolin waltzed through the front door, only bothering to announce his presence so he might get a reply that would help him locate his mother, "Hey, Tǎoyàn." Bolin greeted the sealhound as he entered the house, making sure to scratch him under his collar, "You being a good boy? Where's mom?" The hound turned and made his way to the library.

"So," Lin marked her place as he crossed the threshold, "are you going to stutter through awkward conversation before getting to the point, or are you going to just come out and say it?" She put her book on the nearby table and waited for her son to consider his options. With her annoyed expression and undertone, he thought it might be best not to press his luck.

"Given the mood you're in...I'll think I'll just get to the point." He took the spot next to her, making Tǎoyàn huff,"I know, Tǎo, I got your seat. Despite the fact mom _claims_ that she keeps you on the floor where you supposedly belong." he eyed her, and got a glare in return. That's right, he had business here and he said he'd get straight to it, "What was that about?"

"The kid's not Aang. She's never going be Aang. And they shouldn't expect her to be."

"That's true. But _you_ defended _her_." He put such an emphases on that because he still couldn't quite belief it himself.

"Don't remind me."

"You kinda like her, don't you?" An elbow playfully nudged her side.

"Hell no." She shot back, maybe a little too quickly, and pushing his arm away to let him know she was still in no mood for any of his teasing, "I don't think anyone should be have to live up to their parent's reputation."

"You mean 'predecessor's reputation'?"

"That's what I said." They looked at each other for a moment.

"No, you said 'parent's reputation."

"No I didn't." Now before Lin said that with the look that she said it with, her son believed it was just a slip up. But his mom looked so downcast at the very idea of being compared to someone else that he just couldn't take it as anything less than repressed and hurt feelings.

"...You know how she feels, don't you? That's why you stood up for her." Unfortunately, there was no way Lin could get out of this. Oh, she could deny it, tell him he was crazy, make him go home, but he'd know. And this would hang over their heads until she broke, so she might as well face the music head-on like an earthbender.

"My mother was a blind earthbending master at eleven. She invented metalbending and helped save the world at twelve. And when she grew up she established the police force here. Then she had me and everyone expected me to be great; a bender with Toph Beifong's blood and tutelage, but with eyesight to avoid aerial attacks as well. Every time I fought, my mom would say 'one day that girl's gonna kick my ass', but she knocked me down until the day she died." Her eyes closed and her mouth formed a sneer, "I was supposed to be the greatest earthbender the world would ever see."

"I didn't know everyone did that to you too." And he couldn't believe it. Him, he could understand, he had to be pushed _hard_ to get as good as he was, and for awhile he thought that even his own mother had given up hope for him. But _she_ was such a great bender, and a great chief. The woman was a bending champion at nine for crying out loud! What more did those people want?

"And you," she continued on as if he hadn't said a word, all the inner rage that she'd been bottling up for the sake of letting Bolin chose his own life came out, "You go around asking for the same thing! You hate the expectations people put on you, but then you join the force?! You think that's going to help?!" No answer. Neither of them needed one. From this day on they both knew how his life would be. He'd be under constant scrutiny by the entire city. They would expect him to raise through the ranks quickly, to be a captain and ready to take over the police by the time his mom retired, "You want to be stuck in a job you'll hate, being watched and judged by a bunch of fools, for what?"

"..." he couldn't think of a thing, "...I won't hate my job." His mom slunk. Putting her elbow on her knee and her head in her hand.

"Why are you doing this, Bolin?" She asked without moving.

"Huh?"

"It was a simple question, Boy." The woman replied tiredly, "Answer me."

"...I don't know."

"That's not an answer." Especially not when he was talking about the rest of his life. He better have a damn good answer before he went through with this.

"Because...I wanna help people."

"There are other ways to help people. Choose one of them."

"But this is what I want."

"Why?" She lifted her head, beginning to get irritated.

"I want to help people. You, me and Mako-"

"Family business?" Her, and her boys. The three of them, serving the people, dealing out justice. It sounds great at first, even to her, but what happens when the newness wears off?

"Yeah," he sort of laughed, thinking that mom finally understood.

"Just. Go." She didn't even know what to say. All she did know was that this was a mistake.

"But," Did he really hear his mom tell him to get out of her house?, "why? What'd I do?"

"Go home, Boy." She went back to her book, found the spot and forced herself to begin reading while her son sat there with that heartbreaking look of his.

"Alright Mom." He sniffed, standing up slowly and taking a few steps, "I'm sorry." It seemed like the right thing to say, even if he wasn't quite sure what he was sorry about.

"No," She whispered after he left, "I am."

* * *

><p>This was it, Hiroshi's greatest chance for a high position in the city. All he had to do was get through a meal with Baatar's family without revealing his anti-bender views. Not that this was really something he was worried about, if he could fool everyone Republic City he could certainly fool everyone here.<p>

"Hiroshi, this is my wife, Suyin." Baatar introduced the matriarch of the metal clan, and she wasn't what Hiroshi had expected. He pictured someone around his and his employeer's age, hard boiled and demanding him to kneel. What he got was a younger woman, only beginning to start graying, smiling with an outstretched hand.

"Call me Su." She even dropped formality at the first chance with a her gentle voice. He was truly surprised, but he was a professional and he could keep his face neutral if he wanted, "And this is our son, Baatar Jr."

"Who will be joining us as our junior engineer." Baatar said with a father's pride, the same pride that Hiroshi once had for his own child.

"Really?"he asked with a gentle smile, but completely astonished, "At your age?"

"He may only be sixteen, but he's a prodigy." Su bragged as she ruffled his hair,

"Mom..."

"And this is our up-and-coming artist, Huan. He's ten." The boy frowned and seemed to detest being there. But his mother nudged him, forcing him to say a small hello before looking to the ground, '_He's going through a phase_', she mouthed to him before moving down to the next child, "And our lovely daughter opal."

"Hello, Mr. Sato." She said so politely, but also very quietly. Hiroshi bent down to grab the little girl's hand. Giving it a kiss and making her blush.

"And how old are you, little lady?"

"Eight."

"Wow, you'll be a grown woman soon."

"And these two walking sand tornadoes" she had to pull the two youngest boys apart by the back of their collars and holding them both in midair, "are Wei and Wing."

"Hi." Both boys said as they hung passively from their mother's hands. Hiroshi's mask fell and surprise overtook him. But only for a split second before he caught himself.

"Hello."

"It's okay, Hiroshi, it won't hurt them." Baatar caught the look of surprise and mistook it for panic.

"No, no, I wasn't worried." He assured the parents, "She just reminded me of an old friend of mine. She used to pick her son up the same way."

"I suppose a lot of people do. My mother and sister used to do the same with me whenever I gave them trouble." Su explained with a nostalgic smirk, "And I did that all the time."

"Well, that's what all children do best."

"Oh, believe me, I know." She headed for the table, placing each boy in his seat and whispering words of warning to behave themselves.

"As energetic as these boys are now, I don't know how we're gonna handle them if they turn out to be benders." Baatar admitted as he pushed Opal's chair in for her.

"With a lot of patience." They all got situated and the food was brought out. As Hiroshi carried on conversation, he carried himself with all the practiced grace and charm of a seasoned businessman, but he'd be lying if he said this was as easy as he thought it'd be. Suyin picking her boys up reminded him of Beifong, that was the defining moment, but those scars of hers sealed the thought in his mind. And it shouldn't, the two women had two common traits, it wasn't a big deal, "Those are just my badgermole whiskers." Suyin said suddenly, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," Hiroshi tried to recover, "I didn't mean to stare."

"It's alright." She moved her hand upwards, moving her hair to the side and showing him the entire thing. The three horizontal scars now dominated the left side of her face, beginning just to the side of her nose and stopping just before her ear, "Opal said I look like a badgermole and it stuck. And why do I have these?" That question was clearly meant not for him, but for the table.

"Because you broke the law." All of her children answered in unison.

"That's right. And officers don't fight criminals with kid rocks. Which is why we-"

"Don't break the law in the first place." They replied, bored from having this lesson drilled into their heads so often.


	4. Newspapers

Their day had yet to begin. First, Bolin and his brother would attend the academy for a few classes on the law and the proper enforcement thereof. The other courses they managed to test out of, and it probably wouldn't be another week or two before they could test out of the law courses and become rookie cops. Bolin couldn't wait until that time, because their days were pretty full at the moment. When their tedious hours of class were over, they had to join up with their assigned teams as deputized officers to pay the rent. But before the long day began...breakfast. Breakfast with Asami, to be specific, who was bringing her old friend a blacklisted piece of merchandise.

"Did you bring the goods, Asami?" Bolin whispered through a crack in the door. The left side of her face disappeared behind the morning paper, with a lovely picture of Mako on the ground covered in desserts. Asami was in the picture as well, but she was good about laughing off stuff like that... unlike her moody boyfriend. He grabbed the paper and shoved it into his coat to be added to his collection of embarrassing family featured newspapers at his earliest convenience, "Right. You may enter."

"Thank you.", she crossed the threshold with her briefcase in hand, "I can't stay long, I have a meeting with the board. Now that the city's unfrozen my father's holdings and gave them to me, we have a lot paper-pushing to do."

"Don't worry about it." Mako said from the stove, "We got class anyway."

"Wow, aren't we in a good mood this morning." Not even a 'hello' for his girlfriend, and she didn't seem happy about it. Bolin decided to intervene before this became a lovers' quarrel that he didn't want to be witness to. If it were to go unchecked long enough, they'd ask him to pick sides and that was a sadistic choice, his best friend, or his big brother? No, he'd made that mistake before and he had no desire to do it again.

"He's still embarrassed because he embarrassed himself in front of the most important people and in the city and a bunch of photographers. Which means it's in the paper." Bolin proudly held up the second copy Asami brought, only to quickly drop it in the sink as Mako shot a fire dart at it, "Man! Mako! That would've looked so good in a frame." He whined at the ashes, Pabu jumped onto his shoulder and nuzzled him, "It's alright, Buddy. We'll just eat our sorrows away while Mako tries to come to terms with the fact he's a dancing dunce."

"That's not the problem!" He insisted as Asami and Bolin went to set the table. They stopped and looked his way to nonverbally call his bluff, "Well, not all of it."

"And the other part is?"

"What do you think, Bo? What was with Lin last night?"

"Oh...I don't really know." he said with complete confidence in his lie...never mind the sweat starting to form on his forehead, "She was acting really moody when I talked to her." Now it was his turn to be on the receiving end of two gazes, these were bored looks though, as if to sarcastically ask 'oh really', "Well moody-_er_."

"She's been moody-_er_ for awhile now." And frankly, it was starting to worry Asami.

"All she said was Korra wasn't Aang and they shouldn't expect her to be just like him." They didn't need to know the rest. He wouldn't even know the rest had it not been for a slip of the tongue.

"...And that was it?"

"Yeah, pretty much." For some strange reason, it was getting really hot in there.

* * *

><p>Her day hadn't officially began, but like so many other days, she found herself in her office well before the scheduled time. Unlike so many other days, her work was difficult to focus on. It was all the family pictures adorning her desk, they were capturing her attention every other minute. The old family portrait with her and the boys, took just after Mako turned himself in, reminded her that they were overdue for another one. She jotted down a note to get with Asami and the boys to get a date set aside to get it done in the near future, then she went back to her files. The older family portrait, taken just after Bolin got the Beifong name, reminded her that he was growing up too damn fast. And that wasn't a thought she could push out of her mind with a memo,<p>

_Lin woke up in the guest room of her mother's house to the pitter-patter of little feet. The boy was up and coming in her direction in quick, but restrained footsteps, like he had to force himself to move. She lifted her arm in the direction of the metal door handle, turned it down and forced inwards to move the wood along with it._

_ "Chief, are you awake?" A timid little voice called from the door._

_ "No," she grumbled with closed eyes, "the door opened all by itself." _

_ "Then how are you talking?"_

_ "What do you want, boy?"_

_ "I had a scary dream." with a rush of confidence, or perhaps fear was overriding his common sense, the boy stampeded over to her bed climbed under the covers without permission. He didn't waste any time before clinging to her, along with his stuffed badgermole. Lin's first reaction was a frown, having never liked her personal space being invaded without consent,"Can I sleep with you?" he finally asked. _

_ "A bit late to be asking, isn't it? Why are you shaking?" the dream must have been terrible by little children standards._

_ "I dreamed bad men came to take me away from Mako." He told her the vague details, but it was enough to make Lin soften. She still had nightmares about Yakone and his men from time to time, more than thirty years later and she could still feel their water whips cut through her cheek, "But you can beat 'em all up."_

_ "My mom's better at beating up bad guys." If he wanted someone who could protect him from his dream villains, it was her mom._

_ "I want you." and he cuddled closer, "You can scare off anybody." and then he thought about it for a second, "'cept Mako." of course, not Mako. Bolin could see her spar and beat a hundred of the best benders on the force and he'd still insist that Mako could beat her up, but he wanted her more than he wanted the great Toph Beifong. That had to be the first, and it'd probably be the last, time she ever heard that. So she cleared her throat, and put an protective arm around him._

_ "Go to sleep, kid."_

_ "Could you tell me a story?" He bargained. She should have seen that coming._

_ "There was once a little boy who went to sleep when he was told, and his caretaker didn't feed him to the wolfbats. The end."_

_ "That's not a story, that's me!" not quite, but he was on the right track,_

_ "It's only you if you go to sleep right now. Unless you wanna be the boy who didn't go to sleep when he was told and got fed to the wolfbats." She regretted that threat as soon as she uttered it. The boy was scared out of his wits as it was, and she just threatened to kill him. And since he was still too young to recognize sarcasm, she braced herself for tears, but they never came. Bolin had taken her seriously, but he chose to close his eyes tight and pretend to snore. After a minute, he bought his own con and fell asleep in her arms._

Up to that moment, she'd been convinced that her decision to take in the boy was a mistake. She even thought about sending him to the island to become the world's first earthbending air acolyte...he was certainly gentle enough to be an windless airhead, and they could surely use an earthbender during planting season. But he trusted her more than anyone, except his big brother, and he wouldn't settle for anyone else. And the absolute trust and dependence one little boy had in her made Lin feel more important than her badge ever had, not that she'd ever admit it. But now the boy was becoming a man, and his blind faith in her was fading. Mistakes, big ones, were on the horizon and she felt powerless to stop it.

"Hey, Maiden!" even if the voice was unfamiliar, the nickname was enough to narrow down the list of suspects. Her old captain had decided to take it upon himself to disrupt her brooding. While not in the mood for company, she rose to open the office door, and was handed a cup of coffee and a bag that smelled like food, "Your kids made the front page." He cracked open his morning newspaper.

"I know, Xun." her boy was probably hording a copy under his bed at that very minute.

"You're in here too," he informed her as he helped himself to her chair, "bottom of the page. Elegant speech. I'd ask if you were drunk, but they don't say anything about bad singing in here."

"I barely had anything to drink." but she was starting to wish she had.

"You wanna talk about this?"

"About what?"

"Don't make me whack you with this." he held up his cane threateningly as she took a seat in front of her own desk, "Everyone around my shop says you've been snapping like a wounded catgator, then you blow up at a formal in front of the politicians. Don't blame ya for that one, but something's gotta be eatin' ya."

"How do you stop a grown kid from doing something stupid?" She leaned back in the chair, and rubbing her temples.

"You don't." he answered without a second's hesitation, "You wait for it to blow up in their faces and then say 'I told you so'." That's what Lin was afraid he'd say, "Which one of your kids is doing what?"

"The youngest, he's going to join the force." Honestly, Lin's old boss didn't know which boy was younger, he thought it was the earthbender, but he couldn't keep up with everything,

"The boy who used to help turtlesloths cross the road?" He took a guess.

"That's him."

"This job'll chew him up and spit him out." An safe prediction, if Lin knew the boy and the job.

"Try telling him that."

"Well, did ya think to put him in communications or someplace." Actually, she hadn't, not that it mattered. He'd never settle for a job like that, he was always a hands-on kind of person.

"He wants to 'help people'."And it was hard to 'help people' in the communication room. Spirits, she really wanted a drink, "What am I doing to do?"

"You don't gotta a choice, Maiden, unless you can deny his entry," she shook her head. New entries were not her department, unless they had a record. And while he did have a record, stealing bread to survive was not sufficient cause to deny him, "Then do what your mom told ya."

"Wait and listen?" Then say she warned him after her worst fears came to pass? No, there was a time to be patient and a time to act. This was the later. She was going to make the boy so miserable that he'd quit. He couldn't hold a grudge that long and if he did, well...it was a chance she had to take.


	5. Omega

"The Chief's doing what?!" a collective disbelieving whisper came from every officer huddled around Captain Lee's desk at the far side of the squad room. Each knew that if their beloved leader heard them, they'd all be 'randomly selected' for next month's beating-um _'training exercise'._

"She's gonna break her boy." Xun told them from Lee's chair with a shrug, "Send him running before this job ruins him." there was a mummer of sympathetic words for the young Beifong. The general opinion was that he wouldn't last a day against the old Iron Maiden, "Don't count the boy out just yet, she didn't raise him to be a quitter."

"Yeah." Lee, as Bolin's captain, felt it was his duty to stand up for him, "He's tougher than he looks."

"Any kid who can survive childhood with Beifong has to be tougher than he looks." Sergeant Ning pointed out.

"Don't forget that over the years he's convinced her to take in," he used his fingers to count off, "a fire ferret, two teenaged girls, and a sealhound." Xun added, "He's got her figured out." And that was a fact, as impossible as that might seem to the crowd of her underlings.

"But this is _Beifong_ we're talking about." A protest from the crowd came.

"The boy's a Beifong too." Ning pointed that little fact out again.

"It's gonna be interesting, no doubt about it." The retired cop took finished off his coffee and pulled out his wallet, "Twenty yuans on the boy." Republic city's finest watched him walk out in silence before looking at each other, to the money, and to their Chief's office.

"I don't care how tough the boy is...he's going down. Twenty on Beifong." Lee flew into his chair, grabbed paper and wrote down his wager. A captain must be loyal to the officers beneath him, but no law said he had to be on their sides when bets were involved, "Any other gamblers?" Names and yuans came flying in.

* * *

><p>"Man, you look horrible, Bo." Team avatar had been nice enough to come and visit him at the station, and they told him that they had a decent meal for him, the first one he'd had in days. What he hadn't been told about was the unwanted concern for his ragged appearance.<p>

"Thank you, Mako." Bolin said with sarcastic sweetness as he trudged into the break room for breakfast, "I worked hard to get this look right." Then he flopped down in the empty chair, "I'm going for a look that says 'this guy is an overworked, underpaid deputy who somehow got thrown into his momboss's tigerdog house and would give his face to Koh to get out of it'. Did I pull it off?"

"Perfectly." Asami nodded, trying to play along with the joke. They always seemed to make bad things easier to bear.

"Oh that's great." He smiled somewhat, before it turned into a frown, "Do you have any idea what that woman's been putting me through?" Bolin whined pathetically as he laid on the table, completely exhausted from the day's work (he hadn't got to sleep and there was still more to do before his class) he got a pat on the back from Korra, a hand squeeze from Asami and a condolence-coffee from Mako.

"She's been making you work around the clock?" Korra guessed with a growl.

"Besides that." a muffled answer came.

"She's yelling at you all the time?" That was Asami's guess.

"Besides that."

"Giving you all the rotten jobs ." Mako hit it right on the head,"Yeah, Bro, we know."

"Do you, Mako? Do you? Let's see, she's made me...round up a rogue flock of rouge armadillochickens," everyone fought to hide their smiles, a lieutenant had gotten a picture of him covered in feathers and noddles, it was beautiful, "She made me babysit a nobleman's bad tempered owlcat," it tried to fly the coop, and he'd gotten a dozen scratches at least, "she made me guard a restroom in City Hall...the _restroom_, Mako! I stood at attention by the sinks for ten hours." It'd been pretty uncomfortable for both him and the restroom patrons, "I've had to clean the kennels, play the dummy for tackling demonstrations, pick up everyone's lunch. I got randomly selected for the training exercise and I didn't do anything wrong! She makes me extra paperwork every single day. Day before yesterday she said it was because she had to take a team and 'inspect the Riverside Tavern for suspicious activities', then I hear the chorus of 'Secret Tunnel' with sealhound accompaniment in her office six hours later."

"Maybe she was inspecting the drinks and got carried away?" Asami offered a possible explanation, partly to keep the peace in the Beifong family and partly out of guilt. She'd accepted an invitation to the Riverside Tavern from Lin, but hadn't known what she'd done to get out of work early or why she wanted to go back to the station after she'd been cut off.

"Maybe she's just trying to DRIVE ME UP THE WALL!" he shouted, banging his fist on the table for good measure, "She keeps coming up with new ways to torture me. I'd thought she'd start easing off by now, but that woman's relentless!"

…...

"That boy's indomitable!" Lin growled as she saw Bolin get back from his break two minutes early via seismic sense. It upset her that she couldn't nail him for being late, but there was a job that required an officer of his talents on the east side of the city, "Beifong! Get in here!"

"Yes, Chief." Bolin couldn't even bother himself to try and disguise the tired groan that escaped his mouth. He just pushed himself off his desk and trudged to his mother's office like a man on death row.

"Some idiot robbed a jewelry shop. He was apprehended, but not before he flushed half of the merchandise down the drain." She handed him a map that had been marked with the suspect's location upon his arrest, and a list of the missing items. Ah, she could see it in his eyes, he had a pretty good idea where she was going with this, and he didn't like it one bit."Go find all of it."

"Yes, Chief." He said formally, molding his face into an expressionless mask. She heard him as he was leaving the squad room, "It'll be like a scavenger hunt. A really smelly scavenger hunt." Kid almost always found the good in a bad situation, but it had to be getting hard to do by now, judging by his appearance. She had managed to push him to the point were he was a shadow of his former self, living off coffee and hopes, but he was still holding strong. She had to break him soon because she was starting to run out of ideas.

* * *

><p>"Alright," Bumi paced in front of his troops, a tall proud commander preparing his troops for the upcoming mission, "This will require courage and tact, we'll need a set of codewords so we know what to say and when to say it. Now, when I say 'three-day stew' that's you mention how much you love getting along with your mom." He bent down to look Meelo in the eyes, "You got that, Soldier?"<p>

"Yes, Sir." The little boy saluted proudly.

"And when I say 'moonshine on the snow', Mako tells them how great it is to be together as a family. Then, Tenzin, you hit 'em hard with the peace treaty." His eyes closed and his fist clenched, giving off the impression of dramatic, importance, "By the end of dinner, the warring badgermoles will call a ceasefire, and join forces to keep this fine city out of the hands of the criminals who wish to see it destroyed." Crickets. Crickets and one little boy's inspired cheer. Everyone else had been too busy with their own conversations to notice, "Guys?"

"Bumi," the commander's snobby little brother spoke to him, "we are simply going to sit them both down and talk about this."

"You want to go to war without a strategy? Trust me, we need to have a plan."

"It's too late," Asami said from the window, "They're coming now."

"-zin told me to come!" Bolin's was the first voice they heard, and it sounded like he was defending himself.

"I told you to finish polishing the armor!" That was obviously Lin, who was obviously angry that her boy had chose to ignore her orders in favor of the airhead's.

"He said it was important! I'll get on it as soon as they tell me what's wrong, okay?!"

"Kid's," Pema's voice broke the quiet in the room and drowned out the voices outside, "why don't you go eat in your rooms." Normally, every one of them would argue, but none of them wanted to be around to listen to the Beifongs' fight, that and they weren't normally allowed to eat in their rooms. So they hurriedly filled up their plates and headed out just as the front door burst open.

"What's so important that you called Bolin away from work?" Lin skipped the pleasantries and got to the point.

"We need to talk."

"About?"

"This feud between the two of you."

"That is no concern of yours!" Lin's fist clenched at her sides. These people would ruin her chances if she stayed in their presence for too long, "Bolin, get back to your job. We're not wasting time here." Then she stormed out, leaving her son behind with his honorary family. He gave them a sad smile to thank them for the effort, grabbed a piece of fruit and then walked out without a word.

"Wait, Bolin." Tenzin jogged to catch up with his nephew.

"I better get back, Uncle Tenzin."

"Then let me give you a ride back on Oogi."

"Yeah, I guess that'd be alright."

He fell asleep. Not that it had surprised Tenzin, the teenager's eyes were drooping since his body hit the saddle, so by the time they made it to headquarters he was dead to the world. So the uncle put his cloak around his nephew to keep him warm and stood watch above the station's entrance. When Lin came into view he swooped down on his glider.

"Go away, Tenzin." Lin pushed past him and into the building.

"Lin I just want to talk." He followed her.

"Keep your nose outta this." She kept her pace towards her office where a door would be slammed in his face if he didn't think of someway to make her stop.

"Bolin's asleep on the roof." He blurted, and she screeched to a halt. Success.

"What? I'm gonna kill that boy." Or agonizing failure, whichever. Tenzin decided that now was a good time for an intervention. Using his bending to enhance his speed, he got ahead of her to stand between her and the door leading to the roof. Admittedly, a dangerous place to be at the moment, but he wanted Lin to cool down before waking her son up.

"Now Lin, I-" The sound of ripping metal stopped him from finishing his sentence. Lin was out of the freshly created hole in the ceiling and had it closed before he could get through, so he went for the door, just to find it'd been locked. There were many windows in the building, all he had to do was get out of one to get up to the roof, "Lin, don't!"

"Quiet down, Airhead." Lin sat in Oogi's saddle, but hadn't been going to shake Bolin awake as it appeared at first, she was mindlessly stroking his hair with a brokenhearted look on her face.

"Lin." He whispered this time, climbing in the saddle.

"He is tired, isn't he?"

"He has been working very hard lately."

"It's for the best. He shouldn't be stuck this job. All he wants to do is make people happy, that's how he's always been. Being a cop, seeing good people hurting every day, knowing that even if he catches the bastard who hurt them, he can't stop the pain...then realizing no matter what he does, there'll always be evil people hurting innocent people... I can't let him go through that. It'll destroy him one way or the other."

"I know." Tenzin put an arm around her shoulders. He knew Bolin's hopeless optimism and natural empathy would make the police work a less than ideal choice for his career, but there was hope, "There is a way to compromise."

"No." She still persisted, quietly, but no less sternly, "He leaves the force. Period."

"What if he was a Police Liaison to the Metalbending Academy?" Well he had her attention now, if only out of pure and simple curiosity, "A wise guru nam-"

"Get to the point." She was in no mood for the words of some guru that lived three hundred years ago who gabbed nonsense and called it wisdom.

"If you give a man a piece of fruit, you will feed him one time. If you teach him how to plant and harvest, you will feed both him and his family every day."

…

Bolin opened his eyes to a room lit only by street lights below. He instantly recognized it as his mother's office, he instantly realized that she'd put her coat over him, but he had to wake up a bit before he remembered that he was supposed to be polishing armor at that very moment. He hurried to get up, tripping over his own to feet in his haste. Opening the door, he managed to run smack into a metal wall on his way out and he hit the ground with a thud.

"Bolin." His mom rolled her eyes as she offered him a hand up, "Go back to bed, Boy."

"Huh?" Not very articulate, but he was confused. Considering how the woman was acting, he wasn't sure that he was actually awake.

"Get some sleep. We'll talk tomorrow."


	6. Peace

She was in the shop, getting them coffee. He was outside with the animals, trying to keep them from killing one another. Pabu was hissing at Tǎoyàn from his shoulder and clawing up at him. Tǎoyàn was pacing back and forth, huffing and growling. He knew that he wasn't allowed to jump on people, but he was thinking about it, Bolin could tell. It was only a matter of time before he did something.

"Would you two just calm down? We're all friends here." He tried to reason with them, but they didn't care. Tǎoyàn make an attempt at Pabu's tail, jumping up but his feet hit air as Bolin took a quick step forward to save his buddy, "Tao, stop that!" He didn't stop that. Pabu wasn't helping matters either, he was hissing and swiping his claws and swaying his tail, making himself too irresistible to the predator. So the sealhound followed his instincts and made another jump for his snack. "Stop it!" They kept at it. He was caught in the middle as the ferret twirled around his body and the hound ran circles while jumped up.

"Enough!" A loud, authoritative bark came. Both animals froze mid-lap/jump. They looked at their master/master's mother to see if she really meant business, then decided that they didn't want to fight anymore. Pabu hunkered all the way to his master's shoulders and Tǎoyàn slunk over to his master's side with his tail between his legs.

"How do you do that?"

"I'm not a pushover. Here you go, Boy." She nudged his arm with hers, and offered him his drink, which he eyed skeptically. The woman was being nice to him, and it was unsettling to say the least. She was never nice, not when someone was opposing her. Their past history taught him to prepare for yelling and earthbending tantrums, but she was buying him coffee...after giving him a full day off, and taking a day for herself... something was not right. There was this sinking feeling in his gut, like he was being set up. Maybe she was plotting to put sleeper's tonic into his drink and ship him to the Southern Water Tribe?

"Uh, thanks." He took the cup, but wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to drink it. No, decided that it must be safe. She wouldn't drug his coffee, she wasn't that subtle. If she did want to send him away she'd just knock him out cold and pack him in a crate with the words 'do not shake or unleash' on the sides. The hot coffee went down his throat as they started walking. The shop wasn't far from the park, so he figured that's where they were going, "You're luring me into a false sense of security, aren't you?"

"Don't be ridiculous." She rolled her eyes as they reached a small pond. This early in the morning, there weren't that many people around. A couple sat on the wooden bench a little ways off to their right, or technically they were laying in each others' arms on the bench, but they were too engrossed in themselves and their newspaper to pay them any mind, "We're here to talk."

"Okay..." neither spoke, he didn't know what to say and she suddenly seemed disinterested in him. Didn't she just say that she wanted to talk?, "So do you want me to start or-"

"Just a minute." Her eyes narrowed. She stomped her foot, and the ground that was holding the couple's bench caved in on the front legs, making it's occupants roll to the ground. For a moment there was silence. His mother glared, they looked at her in horror, he stared in shock.

"Mako?!" He shouted when he found his voice again, "Asami?!" Well, their faces were hid behind the newspaper, now he knew why.

"We were just, um-" Mako was at a loss for words as they pick themselves up.

"Leaving!" Asami wisely grabbed her boyfriend's wrist and made a run for it. As Bolin watched the two retreat, he heard another stomp. The tree behind the bench shook, and something fell out of it.

"Oh, hey, Beifong. Hey, Bolin." A young Water Tribe woman scratched the back of her head with a sheepish smile.

"Hey, Korra." He waved, but the pleasantries were wasted on the grumpy chief. She pointed at the girl, and then to the path that retreating couple took,

"Leave. Now."

"Right." She causally turned a heal and strolled off for dignity's sake until she she went behind the treeline, then she suddenly broke into a run.

"Sit down boy." She sat down on the cold earth near the pond, so he did the same, "You know I'm not giving in on this."

"I'm not-" A hand stopped him from going on.

"And I know that your not giving in either, being the damn stubborn boy that you are when you want to be." The woman had a point, this was a perfect example of the irresistible force meeting the unmovable object, "Now we got to find a way to...", it seemed like the very word was poison in her mouth, "compromise."

"...Okay?" How could they possibly compromise? He wanted to be a cop, and she was making his life hell to run him off. Where was the middle ground?

"People are dropping out of the Metalbending Academy by the dozens. I want you to train the ones who aren't cutting it in the normal classes." She looked at him expectantly, but only got a blank stare in return. That sentence didn't sound like it had anything to do with the conversation they were having at the moment.

"But only one out of a hundred people can metalbend, and I won't have time to train anybody, I'll be on the streets busting criminals." Two very important points, both of which made her roll her eyes and growl.

"I want you to represent the force at the metalbending academy. You'll keep your rank and be called in if I need you." And the chances of that were slim. If she had her way, Bolin would never do another day of police work, "And that damn statistic is a lie made by people who wanted an excuse to give up."

"But I wanna stop criminals." And he wasn't going to let her tuck him away at the academy while she and Mako cleaned up the streets. He was as good as his brother. Mako might be street smart, but he was the best fighter. Why did Mako get a chance when he didn't?

"I need more metalbenders." she knew that a gruff commanding talk wouldn't work, as it hadn't worked yet, so she did her best to don a soothing and persuasive tone. "You got over a block, you can show them how to do it, too." A hand landed on his shoulder, "You can give me the people I need." Her son shrugged off her hand, much to her surprise,

"That's not a compromise." That was a lie. Something like when someone told a small child they were being a big help when in reality they were just being kept busy,"I just want to be a cop, and I'm not changing my mind." He would stand his ground, ironically using his own mother's teachings about stubbornness against her. As her eyes narrowed he felt his life fade away, he was getting the death glare and he was starting to remember that he still had a lot to learn.

"Is that so?" She asked coldly. He stiffened his body, _'Stay strong, Bo. You're a Beifong, too.'_

"Ye-yeah, that's so." He answered with defiance. Well, she tried it the pure airhead way, and it wasn't working. Now it was time to mix in a little Toph love. Bolin grimaced as she grabbed a hold of his ear, pulled him up by it and drug him out of the park.

* * *

><p>"Mama?" Opal Beifong asked for her mother's attention towards the end of breakfast. The family and a few family friends went silent so that the timid voice of the little girl could reach Suyin's ears.<p>

"Yes, sweetie?"

"What's a bastard?" Everyone ten and older choked on their food and drinks. The question was just there, without cause or warning, so it took a few seconds for everyone to pick their jaws off the floor and gather their wits.

"Where did you hear that word?" Su made sure to ask calmly so she wouldn't frighten her daughter, but her eyes were alight with fire. She looked over the table to search for any potential suspects, but couldn't see any guilt in the room. Opal caught the tension in the air, and began to get nervous, but she knew to answer her mother.

"From Li Ming at the bakery shop. She said that she didn't know how anyone could blame a bastard. So, what is it?"

"Well, it's a complicated subject." The mother said as she stalled for time. Li Ming was a nice woman, but perhaps a bit too chatty and tactless at times. But on the other hand Opal was a child and she would ask eventually, though Su would've preferred that she didn't ask at the table in the presence of guests and her little brothers. "She was probably talking about me." She would tell her daughter the complete truth of the matter, and the twins, and be done with it. It worked just fine for her two eldest boys,

"So you're the bastard."

"Technically. A bastard is someone who's mom and dad are not married." she explained, "There are a lot of people who try to make the child feel bad about that, so they call them names like 'bastard'."

"Why do they try to make them feel bad?"

"Because they think that everyone should live the way they do. And since they think that people should be wed to have children, anyone who was born without a wedding is bad to them." Su explained. Her daughter thought about it for a second before hopping out of her chair.

"You're not bad, Mama." She assured her mother with a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you, sweetie."

"Is our auntie a bastard?" Wing asked from his spot.

"No, our mom was married to her dad. Though it wasn't on purpose. And we say 'illegitimate child', Wing. It is more polite." Though that phrase cut through Su more than the first, how could any child be 'illegitimate', were they not flesh and blood?

"How do you marry someone on accident?" her eldest boy asked, no possible solution coming to his mind.

"Now that's enough today. Why don't you all go play outside?" It was a common understanding between parent and child that sometimes a mother's suggestions were commands in disguise. And it never took the children long to recognize the difference so every one of them left their plates and headed for the door,

"You stay, Junior." Baatar told his son, "Tell him, Dear. He's sixteen."

"Alright." Su relented. It was a moment that made Junior's pride swell, he was finally getting to sit with the adults. He came back to the table, taking the seat next to Kuvria and Hiroshi and settled in for his first adult conversation, "There is a funny story behind that. Apparently, my mother and her _friend,-_" the older adults knew what the word was really implying, Baatar Junior had to think about it for a second, "had a few too many drinks and got hungry. They went looking for a restaurant, ended up at a temple and asked for the house special. They woke up the next day and they were married."

"..." Crickets sounded as the story sunk in. Yes, it was funny, but also very stupid. Su had learned to laugh at most stupid mistakes made by her or her relatives, or at least laugh the look on people's faces as the story was told, so she smiled a sly smile,

"Otherwise, she probably would've been a bastard, too."

* * *

><p>She didn't let go of his ear until they reached the Metalbending Academy, then she unceremoniously pushed him into a beginners class. Everyone stopped and stared as Bolin stumbled in, except the instructor. He noticed them, but didn't pay them any mind. He knew who they were and that it was none of his business why they were there. The ground shook to get the student's attention back and the class continued. Bolin watched the man push his students hard, looking more like a drill sergeant more than a bending master. When he stopped to shout at a teenaged girl who couldn't get her coin to even shake, the young Beifong's blood start to boil. It was also when mom waved the instructor over and led him out of the room, so since he was there with nothing else to do...<p>

"I had trouble learning too." He admitted after sliding up to the girl who got singled out, "You feeling the metal?"

"Yes."

"You try closing your eyes?"

"Yes!"

"Well, then it sounds like you just gotta show the metal who's boss."

"I've been trying that!" she said exasperated, holding back tears of anger.

"Yeah, yeah," he said sympathetically, "I did too. For years. I can help you, this is going to be tough, but you'll be tougher. I know it." He put a thoughtful hand to his chin while looking over her stance, "Alright, come here." There was a decorated sheet of metal on the wall, he pulled it down and held it like a boxing bag, "Here, push it. Come on, hands flat, dig your feet in the stones, and mean it." The attempt was pitiful, "You didn't _know_ that you can. Do it again, but _know_ that it's gonna move this time." The second attempt was as bad as the first. And the third, fourth and fifth tries were the same. What, exactly, was it that pushed him to do it? He took a second to think as she continued to try,

_Amon had him and Mako locked in an interrogation room._

_ His saw his equalized mother, who he'd been desperately searching for, in Amon's prison._

_ He saw his avatar friend in the same cell as his mother, and didn't know whether she'd been equalized yet or not._

_ And last, but not least, he saw Asami in an equalist uniform._

_ The damn metal door was in his way, and he had people to save._

"Alright," maybe he had a solution. Unconventional? Maybe.. "cuss at it."

"What?" She looked at him like he'd grown a second head.

"Cuss at it. It's in your way, it's pushing you around, and it deserves to be told off.", he drove the sheet into the stone floor so it could stand by itself and causally leaned against the side, "If a guy waltzed up to you, and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer... you'd give him hell, right?"

"Right."

"Well, okay." He etched a haphazard bad guy with an almost toothless grin and a sword on the metal, "here's the biggest bastard you'll ever meet, trust me on that." Bolin came around behind her, "He's stubborn. He'll just stand there, making fun of you, and the only way you'll ever get him to shut up is to knock his lights out... he's just standing there, calling you names and laughing and shouti-"

"You...damn twisted son of a bitch!" She roared, scaring everyone out of their wits, as she punched the metal. Now there was a small dent in the bad guy's left eye.

"There you go," Bolin laughed as he patted her on the back, "he won't be bugging you again. Any one else wanna try?" They all lined up.

…

After she heard excited laughter coming from the classroom and saw the reason, she gave Sifu Shui the day off and headed back to Headquarters. Now, at least she had something to do while she waited for her boy to make up his mind.

"Chief," her assistant appeared in the doorway, "your son's on the line." Lin nodded and waved her off, hoping for good news.

_"You ditched me."_ A disgruntled voice came through the telephone.

"You looked like you were having fun helping those newbies beat up that sheet metal." she shrugged out of habit, "You still at the acadmy?"

_"Naw, I just got to your house."_ He replied. That wasn't bad, he'd still been there most of the day, _"I thought you'd be here. Didn't you have the day off?"_

"I got bored." but enough about her, "How was it, Boy?"

"_It was great."_, Success, _"But I don't get how it'd be helping you." _maybe not.

"If the metalbenders sign a two year contract with the police force, their tuition is on the house." The first academy had actually been completely free, but as Republic City got bigger it became harder to get enough officers to keep the peace. So, despite her mother's ideals, a tuition was demanded and an incentive program was put into effect.

_"So the more people who learn, the more officers you get."_

"Right. You'd be good, Boy, but you're only one man. You do this, I could have twenty or thirty more a year."

_"...I think I get it."_

"Is that a 'yes'?"

_"Under one condition."_ his borderline evil smile could be heard over the line, _"This **is** a compromise."_

"What?" she growled.

_"I teach at Headquarters. That way I'm close if you guys need me."_ He wasn't going to make this easy on her, was he?

"Are you serious?" Of course he was, she knew it.

_"Compromise. Remember? I'm doing the job you want, so I want to chose the location...they're gonna work there anyway, right?" _Not all of them, and those that would join up wouldn't work there until after they'd finished the courses. Which led to the problem, most of the building was off limits to civilians. There _was_ that small gym on the ground floor on the south east corner. She supposed that it would be easy enough to close off from the rest of the building and make available for classes, _"Mom? We got a deal?"_

"...Deal." She was starting to go soft.

* * *

><p>A large crowd gathered around Captain Lee's desk, all were arguing about the betting pool. Some were trying convince him that since the boy wasn't going to be an officer, only a fill-in deputy like he was now, the Chief won. Others said that since the boy hadn't been run off by the Chief, and he kept his rank, he won.<p>

"Good evening, Officers!" a loud, eccentric voice carried over the others. A United Forces commander strolled up to the desk with at least thirty of his sailors, "I'm here to collect my winnings."

"Sorry, Commander Bumi, but all bets are off since we can't call a winner. I'll find your ticket and refund your money."

"You just look at my wager, Captain." They all looked at him skeptically, but Lee searched through the numerous tickets until finally found Bumi's.

"Commander Bumi: Winner- A draw." many groans were heard, "Judging by the moaning, I guess all agree on that. It's all yours, Commander." The Captain almost looked ready to sob as he handed over the lock box containing the money.

"Don't take it hard, Officers. Drinks on me!" Those that were going off duty cheered at the consolation prize and quickly grabbed their things.

"Hey, Commander." one woman asked him as she locked her desk, "How'd you know it was going to be a draw."

"When you got a rock meeting the hard place, you know neither's gonna win."


	7. Drunk and Disorderly

Well, his family made it into the newspapers again. That was nothing out of the ordinary. His family was in the paper for being caught drunk at a tavern. Again, not unheard of, though Bolin often wondered how the newspaper reporters always knew where they were. But being on the front page because you drunkenly stole a kiss from the avatar... that was new.

**Republic City's Newest Celebrity Couple? **

He hadn't even intended on getting drunk last night. His uncle invited him and most of the family including his mom, Tenzin, Korra, Asami and Mako (along with a lot of sailors and cops) out for drinks saying that he had an announcement to make. Apparently 'Commander Bumi' was about to become 'Retired-man Bumi', and so, toasts were in order. Many toasts, which Bumi seemed to get offended when he tried to back out of. Along with the toasts, a good retirement party apparently required drinking games, dancing, and stupid stunts. Which for Bolin meant jumping on the the tables and suggesting five minute practice dating (whatever that was), telling numerous people that he loved them, telling Mako he should propose already because his little brother was tired of having Asami as a girlfriend-in-law. And between all that, he obviously found time to put the moves on Korra.

"Republic City's new couple?" He grumbled as started to make coffee while Mako took care of breakfast, "It's obvious I was drunk, she _deserves_ to slap me, not date me. A strong backhand, right across the face. Whack!" he did sound effects for good measure, though his ears were feeling a bit sensitive at the moment, "Wait. _Did_ she slap me?"

"No." His brother answered, not turning his attention from the skillet. Bolin's eyes went wide, and he just couldn't help but to ask,

"Why?"

"She decked you." Oh, that explained it. Where was the damage? He reached up with both hands to touch his face, feeling for the inevitable bruise. It was on his left eye, "Ow! Alright, fair enough. I got fresh and she decked me." He'd look for something to put on the eye after breakfast, "Though you _could_ have told the barkeep to cut me off before I got that," for lack of better word, "_loving_, Bro."

"I was...busy."

"Busy?" he could swear he heard spidercrickets, "Doing what?"

"Just busy." Mako snapped, "Look I gotta go to class, you finish this." He left the stove, storming over to grab his uniform shirt and leaving their apartment.

"At least I'm not the only one having a bad morning, right Pabu?" His pet fire ferret jumped onto his shoulder, "So how come you didn't stop me, huh? We're supposed to buddies." With a pounding headache, Bolin decided to finish his breakfast and get to Headquarters early and see if any of the waterbending medics could fix him up. A decision that he would soon regret, because as soon as he stepped into the squad room he was greeted by whistles, applause and relationship advice.

* * *

><p>Lin was in her office for another early morning, getting as much paperwork done as possible so that she could work more hands on with her officers during the day. She hadn't had too many drinks last night at the retirement party, but her head was pounding none the less. This was partly because two out of three of her brats decided they were going to be stupid last night, she caught them sneaking off to the supply closet in the back. The damn <em>supply closet <em>of all places, and that alone surprised Lin, she really thought that Asami had a little too much dignity for a back room.

'_But we weren't going to do __**that**_', they kept telling her. Yeah right. They can tell that to her and themselves, but Lin had been there and done that. Common sense was often lost to raging hormones, make out sessions lead to other things the next thing you know, she'd have a little dragon named Sato running around calling her 'grammy'. In an attempt to save them and herself from that dark fate, Lin grabbed them both by the ears and pulled them into that closet to put the fear of Kyoshi into them, for all the good it'd do.

The second reason for this headache damn newspaper reporters she saw at the tavern with their damn camera men and she didn't have the authority to tell them to sod off. Now it was just a question of which drunken moron did something stupid enough to make the headlines. When the morning paper arrived, her prediction was proven, but not in the way she'd thought.

**Republic City's Newest Celebrity Couple? **

She really hoped Mako liked the idea of being an only child, because when she got off duty and away from her officers, he was going to be.

* * *

><p>"Look Korra, I'm really sorry about getting drunk and smooching you. No, that's not right." Bolin paced back and forth on the ferry, trying to get the words just right. He'd been practicing his apology all the way to the docks, dodging newspaper reporters all the way, and it wasn't getting any smoother. Now, without much time left, the pressure was starting to get to him, "Korra, alcohol does funny things to people." He growled and tried again, "Korra, I'm not that kinda boy, I swear! No, no, no!" He grabbed two chunks of his hair. Why did this have to be so hard? As he stepped onto dry land, sweat started forming on his hands, "I screwed up so bad."<p>

"Hey Bolin, are you dating Korra now?" The eldest of the airbending children asked him as soon as he crossed the threshold of the airbender residence.

"Hey Jinora, no," he slumped, this wasn't going to be easy. If the kids knew, that meant that Tenzin knew about it as well, and since he was responsible for the avatar while she was in Republic City...well, Bolin really didn't want to think about what that meant, "I was just..." to tell two little girls he'd been drunk out of his mind, or to not tell two little girls he'd been drunk out of his mind... "it was an accident."

"How do you accidentally kiss someone?" Ikki popped out of nowhere, though that wasn't out of the ordinary, "Did you like kissing Korra? Why is your hair look messy, is it from Korra running her hands through it while you two were kiss-"

"Bolin." A stern, deep, strangely threatening voice acknowledged his presence from the doorway. The young man flinched before slowly turning around in the slight hope that his third worst fear hadn't come to pass. And from the look on the airbender's face, it had. Master Tenzin was in full protective father-figure mode.

"Oh! Hi, Tenzin." he smiled his biggest, and most nervous smile, "Is Korra here by any chance?" The bearded man's face began to turn red, and Bolin seriously reconsidered retreating to reschedule this groveling session.

"Hey it's the lady killer!" Bumi came to the room, leaning in the door frame with a smirk, "Come to lock lips with some acolyte girls?" he asked with a laugh, "Or are you gonna try your luck with the avatar again?"

"No!" Bolin waved his hands frantically, "I'm here to _apologize_, that's all. Apologize."

"Ah, well, she took Naga to the beach. Go get 'er tigerdillo."

"Thanks, Uncle Bumi." Said as he slid around the stoic Tenzin and out the door. He went down to the beach and found Korra sandbending a ball into the swimming area for her polarbeardog to fetch, "Hey Korra, I'm sorry!" he shouted quickly, getting the whole sentence out before she could turn around and go all avatar on him.

"Bolin?" she glared. Oh, this wasn't going to be good, "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Apologizing." he fiddled with his hands nervously, "And doing a horrible job at it, might I add."

"Go away."

"Kiss was that bad, huh?" It came out of his mouth before he could stop it. He quickly covered his mouth but the damage was done.

"Yeah, it was that bad." It was also her first kiss, which made it all the worse.

"Sorry, alcohol breath. I-"he cleared his throat, "seem to be an 'I love you' drunk."

"I don't care, leave me alone."

"I promise I'll leave, but I came to apologize and I'm gonna leave this island with an semi-clear conscience." he cleared his throat again, as if preparing for a speech, "Korra, I'm sorry that I let my crazy uncle talking me into getting sauced and then invading your personal space. This black eye I got for it," which the medics refused to heal...and he had no reason to argue, "is completely deserved and I have no idea why I thought that was a good idea. I swear that's the first time I've done that! Of course, I've only been drunk one other time, but then I only flirted with my crush-"his eyes got big as saucers, "I meant, 'I only flirted with a girl who _crushed my toes_ for it'." Yeah, that was right. Man, he was a horrible liar, "But I promise not to succumb to peer, or uncle, pressure again. Seriously one, maybe two drinks then I'll have them cut me off. I'll just go now." He said what he came to say, however blotched it came out, so it was time to fulfill his promise and vacate the premise.

"Bolin, wait."

…...

"She's stopping him from leaving!" Pema whispered excitedly to Tenzin and Bumi as they watched from a hidden spot on the cliff above the teenagers. The children had been sent to focus on their studies in order to give the young adults a little space to solve their problems, and a 'little' space was all the three adults were willing to give them. They had to be there, just in case a fight broke out. That wasn't out of the realm of possibility, or at least that was their alibi should anyone ask.

"He's got the girl chasing him. Atta boy!" Bumi quietly cheered his nephew on, "Taught him everything he knows." The others rolled their eyes and continued to watch the unheard conversation. The teens' bodies got less and less tense, they even saw Korra laugh. And it looked like maybe...well, a shy real first kiss might be in the near future. But by the time they noticed a shadow beside them, it was too late. They heard both teens scream in surprise as the ground rose and hurled them into the water.

"Mom! What the hell was that for?!" Lin's boy shouted with a raised fist.

"Lin!" Pema shouted, astonished by the older woman's actions, "Do you always have to do that when Bolin shows interest in a girl?" The older woman crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. She knew, for a fact, that Pema's tune would change when Meelo reached dating age, maybe even before that when Jinora did.

"Gotta stick with what works."


	8. Here and There

_"Mama!"_ Su heard her youngest boys yell simultaneously. Her motherly instincts kicked in at once. She leaped right out of her chair, ran out of her office and straight to the boys' room.

"What's wrong?!" She asked as she flung the door open. Neither boy appeared to be harmed, but the room which they were _supposed_ to be cleaning was in ruin. Bits of stone were missing from the floor and scattered around the room, things laid broken on the floor from where the child-fist size rocks hit them. Classic signs of an earthbender temper tantrum.

"Who did this?" She asked evenly as she surveyed the damage. Both boys pointed at the other and immediately started playing the blame game, making it impossible for her to tell which of her sons was the new bender. So she stomped her foot, bringing up two little, perfectly round balls of rock, "Hold out your hands, boys."

They looked at her skeptically, like they knew they were about to be punished, they just weren't quite sure how. Four shaking hands turned over and formed two bowls. She put a rock in each and told them to squeeze as hard as they could. Their little faces twisted in concentration and they both squeezed as hard as their muscles would allow. When Su took the rocks, each had finger indents. Two more little Beifong earthbenders, discovered on the same day...spirits, be with her.

The mother deduced that the boys had gotten into a fight and bended the room apart together, so first, damage repair, and since they were fighting and lied to her they would get to help as part of their punishment. She stood there while they gathered every little spec of misplaced stone and piled it up. With a few wrist movements, the floor was as good as new. Secondly, a time out in separate corners, that hurt them the most, they stood there crying in the hopes that she'd feel sorry for them. But she'd seen that trick too many times to be effected by it now. Thirdly, she had to tell Baatar the news.

"Dear? What's wrong?" Her husband asked as she came into his office with two little boys with tear stained cheeks. The other two men kept to themselves, one because it wasn't any of his business, the other because he had no opinion regarding what trouble his little brothers caused.

"Oh, just a little spat, nothing to worry about. But I just wanted to let you know that we're going to be late for dinner. I got to give these two badgermoles their first earthbending lesson."

"Wow, both of you?" Baatar got on one knee to hug them each in turn, "Well, how about you show me what you can do tomorrow after breakfast?" Both of his sons quickly agreed. He ruffled their hair and turned to his wife with a smile while whispering, "Hei Bai help us." Su nodded knowingly, but put on a brave smile. This was actually wonderful news, it's just that the next few months might be a bit of a pain. They might need to put the twins in separate rooms to keep them from hurting each other.

"Well, we better be off, we have to send a telegram to their aunt and let them know the good news and then we got to practice."

"Su. Your sister might be...busy." He never did agree with her idea to keep Lin informed, so every time he tried to stop her even though he knew she'd never listen.

"Oh, she can take the time to read a telegram." Su didn't want to do this, she needed to. Yes, she made some mistakes in the past, big ones admittedly, but Su and her family were the only relatives Lin had left. And since the eldest sibling was too stubborn to leave the past behind, the youngest would let her know what she was missing out on.

"Will she come see us now?" Wing asked. And that's why Baatar always tried to stop her. And that's why Su instantly regretted mentioning the telegram to their aunt in front of them. She told all of them about her big sister, the one that stood up to bullies and told her stories and helped her get ready for school, and they all wanted to meet her. But she just didn't have the heart to tell them the truth of the matter, so her sons would wait anxiously for her arrival until they were old enough to realize that their aunt wanted nothing to do with them.

"No, sweetheart. She's too busy to visit, but I'm sure she'll be happy to know you're benders." She went to assure them. Wing sighed and his brother shuffled until she put a hand on each back and lead them out of the room.

"I don't think we really have an aunt." Wei whispered to his twin, or at least tried to, the boy couldn't whisper to save his life.

"Yes you do, and you know what?" she bent down and pulled them close as if she was going to tell them a secret, "She's there in her city, missing out on the greatest family in the world."

* * *

><p>It was a typical family dinner at Air Temple Island. Ikki was prattling on a mile a minute, Meelo was playing with his food, Jinora was pouting because her parents took the book she was trying to read while eating. Tenzin and Pema were eating in silence, pretending to listen to their youngest daughter. All normal, but then the extended family came into play.<p>

Mako and Asami, who were still 'on probation' as Bolin put it, were forced to sit on opposite sides of the table and spent half the time staring at each other. Bolin and Korra were on opposite sides of the table as well, thanks to the Beifong Matriarch. Korra chose to glare at Lin, who was more than willing to participate a glowering contest with the avatar, Bolin tried unsuccessfully to tease his brother and get on his mom's good side. This lead to awkwardness, and Bumi didn't do 'awkwardness'.

"How 'bout a story to ease the tension?"

"Yeah!" Meelo shouted, raising his fists in the air.

"I'll tell you about the time me, your dad, and Aunts Kya and Lin were in the forest near Ba Sing Se." He decided with a roguish smile, "We had to go to a fiftieth peace anniversary banquet. But it was boring, so we crawled out of a third floor window and escaped the city. Then suddenly," he banged on the table, "we found ourselves surrounded by thirty bandits."

"Fifteen." Lin corrected causally. Bumi cleared his throat to display his irritation about being interrupted,

"All of them were master metalbenders."

"Fourteen earthbenders. One metalbender novice." She broken in again while Tenzin gave his best 'humph'. All the teenagers shared a knowing grin, the tension officially left the room and the normal insanity took it's place.

"We knew we had but one choice, and that was to fight." He put up his dukes to emphasize his point, "So I fashioned a weapon from the few things I had at my disposal-"

"He grabbed a stick."

"It was a branch! And I took out ten-"

"Two." Tenzin finally joined in with a vain showing.

"Hey!" Bumi's concentration finally broke, now he had to defend his honor, "I took out more than that! You two just knocked them out as they were getting on their knees to surrender!"

"They were going to make an earthquake, you numbskull."

"It was twenty years ago, who knows what happened?!"

"We do."

"Could you hand me the tea, Uncle Tenzin?" Asami blinked. Tenzin's new title didn't go unnoticed, but the surprise only lasted a split second.

"Here you are."

"Thank you."

"Aw, and I'm not 'Uncle Bumi'?" The madman gave an over exaggerated pout, not willing to follow the rest of the family's example and just letting it go without mention, "That's not fair."

"Of course you're 'Uncle Bumi'." Asami played along to save herself from what embarrassment she could, "You're the crazy uncle I never had." Though that wasn't something she ever dreamed of having. Still, she never had aunts or uncles growing up, having two of the latter would be nice.

"Ours too." Bolin spoke for him and his brother.

"Which none of us ever wants to admit in public." Mako deadpanned, earning a smirk from Lin.

"Hey, _I _tell people about him all the time." The teenaged earthbender disproved his brother's claim, "Every family's supposed to have a crazy uncle."

"_Thank you_, Bolin." The crazy uncle said after stick out his tongue at Mako, "At least most of my nephews love me." An unexpected knock at the door took everyone's attention from the family banter. Meelo leaped up to answer it before Lin caught him by the collar. Maybe she was still a little tense since the equalist movement, but she didn't want him answering the door.

"Chief!" her officer saluted, "Telegram marked as urgent."

_Lin. _

_ The twins are earthbenders. They want to see you. They're your family. Don't turn your back on them._

_ Suyin Beifong._

Not for the first time Lin thought about replying. Something along the lines of 'Stop contacting me, I don't care'. But that would technically be speaking to the woman...she'd spoken to her once in the last twenty years and that was enough. She waved the officer off and headed back to the dinning room where she handed Mako a folded piece of paper and told him to burn it immediately. Everyone wondered what was in that message to put her into such a fowl mood, a couple of them asked, but she just told them it was none of their business.

_Eighteen, and freshly out of a jail cell, Lin was beyond furious. 'This is the last straw', the judge had said, 'You have two options,' he said, 'prison for three years, or a police officer for eight'. Though choice. Especially considering that she was Chief Beifong's daughter, she'd be like bloody meat to a pack of starving wolfbats in prison._

_"This one shouldn't count," she went to her father figure with her problems, he was a high ranking city official, he could help, "it was self defense!" _

_"Lin, you started a fight in front of a school. And you threw the first punch." _

_"I threw the second one too." she growled. Her mom had called her, asking her to pick up Su from school, but wasn't able to get there on time. When she did arrive, one of the fathers of the other students was calling her names and making fun of her. At first, she hadn't believed what she was seeing, the man was an adult for spirits' sake. But then it started to sink in that she was really watching a full grown man bulling her little sister and her blood began to boil. Next thing she knew, she was in handcuffs, "He was insulting Su, she was in tears-"_

_"I was not!" her seven-year-old sister shouted from the hallway. Su was a Beifong, and Beifong's didn't cry._

_"Whatever, brat!" she called back, "I had to deck him, Sokka! Are you going to help me or not?"_

_"Not." he threw up his hands in a surrender motion before she could say a word, "I can't, it's done. Look, Lin. You never wanted special treatment, me and Toph made sure you never got it." Unfortunately for Lin, that agreement worked to her disadvantage as well. Sure, she made her own way, but she could never get out of trouble either despite the fact that Lin's growing record was hurting Toph's reputation. When a particular official had even made note of it 'But, Chief, you can't have a daughter in jail'. Her mom did her best to look them in the eye and said, 'Fire me. Family comes first'._

_"Fine." She made a point of slamming his office door on the way out. Then she grabbed Su's hand and made her way out of the building._

_"Lin. Sorry."_

_"Don't worry about it, Tyke." She tried to soften her voice, but she was just too mad and it came out as a growl, "We're family. We can't turn each other in and we can't-"_

_"Turn our backs on each other." Su finished._

_"Right. I did what I had to do and I'd do it again."_

That damn family oath, she'd honored it many times, she got arrested because of it more than once. But this time, like every other time Su tried using it against her in the last twenty years, she would be turning her back. Su belonged there in Zaofu, where she could do whatever she damn well pleased without effecting her half-sister in any way. And she belonged here in Republic City, where she could keep her kids far out of her half-sister's sight and seismic range.


	9. Pairs

Bolin considered his options carefully, this was his very last chance. If he chose the right move, his victory was assured, if he chose the wrong move, his opponent would annihilate him with one move of the hand. Slowly, so very slowly, he made his move and hoped for the best.

"You...actually beat me this time." Asami admitted after examining the Pai Sho board on the table between them.

"Yes!" Bolin jumped off his seat and punched the air in triumph, "See, Pabu," he picked up Pabu and held him at eye level, "I told you I could beat her!" Of course if someone were to look at the tally book, they'd see that the pair played ten games before the Beifong's luck changed for the better. Even then it was barely a victory, but an inch was as good as a mile.

"You're way too excited about this." His defeated adversary shook her head, for obvious reasons.

"Hey," he held up his arms in a drawled out shrugging motion, "I don't win that often, let me enjoy it."

"Fine." She relented with a smile, packing up her game set while he continued to celebrate, "We have to get to the ceremony now." Mako and some other members of the academy were being sworn in today as official police officers, and since it was a nice day the friends decided to have a Pai Sho game in the park before taking a leisurely stroll to the open field where the ceremony would take place.

"Yeah, my big bro," Bolin sniffed mockingly and put a hand on his chest, "all grown up, following in his mom-figure's footsteps...it's enough to bring a full grown man to tears." and he jumped as a playful hand smacked his arm, "Kidding. Pretty proud, though."

"So, are you really okay with this, Bo?" The heiress asked as she linked her arm in his for the walk.

"Yeah. I mean, I gotta admit, I'd still kinda like to be a cop. On the other hand, it's pretty fun teaching people." A cheerful expression suddenly turned sour, "Except this one guy, who will remain nameless. He comes in and acts like a jerk." what would be the best way for him to explain this?, "You ever have someone that you just wanna grab by the front of the shirt, smack them lightly on each cheek and shout 'GET OVER YOURSELF'?"

"All the time," she said with understanding "your big brother, for one." Asami's admission made Bolin double over with laughter, which made her lose what self-control she'd managed to hold on to. By the time they straightened back up his sides were hurting and she was wiping tears away. After offering his arm once again and continuing their walk, he got back on topic.

"A guy worse than Mako ever is came to my class the other day, and has been making everyone miserable. I don't get it, my classes are a last chance for students,_why_ is he so arrogant?"

"I have no idea." it certainly made no sense to her, but at least it was only one person, "But otherwise, you're having fun?"

"Otherwise it's a blast!" he said in a pep talk voice with a child's enthusiasm, "These people come to my class thinking they're failures then, boom, they show the metal who's boss and move that coin!"

"As long as you're having fun." She laughed, he could be such a dork sometimes.

"So, how's your business stuff going?" He asked. Now that he'd answered how his career choice was treating him, it was time for her to do the same.

"Oh, well," Asami's good mood came crashing down with one sentence, but she tried to keep an upbeat tone, "we're hitting a rough patch thanks to my father. But with a little work, we should be able to get back on track."

"You sure? 'Cause I happen to know a very rich woman, mean as a viperbat, but she couldn't care less about her money so she'll probably give you some if you ask."

"That's not necessary. And money's not our biggest problem, our partners are dropping out one by one and nothing I can say seems to work."

"I wish I could help, but I don't know a thing about business stuff." It'd be really nice if he did, though, he hated sitting out why his family needed help. Why couldn't her issues be caused by some jerk that he could knock around?, "Maybe I could talk to your partners? Tell 'em you're not like your dad?"

"No, but thanks anyway." if it were that easy, Asami would've just introduced them all to her firebender boyfriend and been done with it when the first partner left, "Don't worry, it'll be alright. Like I said, it's just a rough patch."

"Okay, Business Lady, if you say so." He wasn't convinced, but if there was nothing he could do to help with her business, then maybe it was best for him to take her mind off her troubles, "Wow, a lot of people are graduating with Mako, huh?"

"Yeah, do you see him anywhere?"

"Um, no. Hang on." Seismic sense, probably the best thing about being an earthbender was that if you wanted to find someone, they were only a slap or stomp away, "He's over there." By the time Bolin pointed Mako out, he'd noticed them and was on his way over. Asami let go of Bolin to give Mako a hug and a kiss.

"So, where's Lin? And Korra?" Mako asked them, trying not to show his concern, "They said they'd be here."

"I didn't see or feel them, but don't worry," Bolin brushed off his brother's worry, "They'll be here."

"They still have time." Asami piped in, despite the fact that she was wondering where they were herself. They all three looked at the nearby clock tower,

"Not much time." the firebender frowned with disappointment. Disappointment turned into crushed feelings when the host came to the mic and told all the graduates to take their places, the ceremony was starting in two minutes. Bolin and Asami gave Mako a sympathetic look, "They're busy, I get it." He told them strongly before he went to take his place in the line up.

"Like a kid who's trying to be tough when mommy doesn't come to his play." Bolin observed, and Asami agreed wholeheartedly.

"It had to be something important. Lin wouldn't miss _this_." This wasn't a _game _that was played every weekend, this was a rite of passage, it was a once in a lifetime thing. What could possibly make Lin decide that she had to be somewhere else? A life or death situation.

"Which really worries me." They watched in pride for Mako, and worry for Lin and Korra as the soon-to-be police officers marched in from the side and formed military rows. They listened as the host gave a long, boring speech about what it meant to be a cop. Then they listened as the host started to lead them in the final pledge, that's when a polarbear dog came bounding in with two passengers. They stared, with everyone else who wasn't taking a pledge, as the two newcomers jumped off the animal and watched the last half of the oath. The host pronounced them all officers of the law, everyone clapped, Bolin turned to his mom and friend, "Are you guys okay?"

"Fine." Lin said without hesitation,

"Yeah." Korra confirmed quickly.

"What happened?" They didn't seem to be in the best shape, in Asami's humble opinion. Lin had scorch marks and mud on her uniform, Korra's entire back was covered in mud, both had messy hair. The right side of Korra's face was black and blue, Lin bruises on her wrist. 'Not in the best shape' was an understatement, they looked horrible.

"..." Korra and Lin glanced at each other.

_**Forty-five Minutes Earlier**_

Chief Lin Beifong and Avatar Korra were discussing some final security modifications for an election debate to be held next week with the City Council and the two Presidential Candidates. After one or two more points, they would be freed to attend their friend's/boy's graduation, but the universe had other ideas. An officer showed himself in to speak to his Chief, much to her irritation.

"Why are you interrupting this meeting?!" she barked at her subordinate.

"Sorry, Chief. There was a call from the Kyoshi District, there was a small explosion on the construction site, it was fowl play." And that was Chief Beifong's cue to leave. Without saying a single word, she left the room to make her way to the construction site on the zip lines, followed by the sealhound that had been waiting at his post by the door.

"What's the status?" The Chief asked as she jumped down in front of the crowd that had to put their noses where they didn't belong.

"Some fuel was tampered with, but by the time anyone was aware of it, the gasoline was on it's way to to the scrap furnace. The fire was put out quickly by a burst waterline." The avatar showed up on her polarbear dog, and a sealhound shortly behind them, but the officer continued without pause, "We cut off the water, set a perimeter in case of another explosion." With all the water on the ground, it'd be hard to set off another explosion, but at least they'd prepared for the worst.

"Keep everyone away, I'll check this out myself." The ranking officer decided. First and foremost, she wasn't going to let anyone else handle the dangerous people/person in there. Second, if she let anyone else handle it, they could be here all day and she had a place to be soon, "Tǎoyàn, come." In dead silence, with head held high, she made her way past the police barriers, and to the patched wood fence when a voice broke through the tension,

"I'll come, too." The Avatar declared, jogging to catch up to the chief, "Sounds like you could use a waterbender in there." Lin was going to regret this, she knew she was,

"Just don't cause me any trouble." She growled, lowering the stone that was blocking the entry way to the area. They crossed the threshold, and the stone rose behind them. The whole area was muddy, there was metal and wood debris from what must have been a supply shed, which was probably the source of the discharge. A heavily reenforced generator stood to the hole, and seemed to be undamaged save for the outer box. The building itself was only two stories of brick and wood at the moment, but it was still intact. That was the only real place for a person to hide. The safest option, seismic sense to pinpoint the culprit(s).

"So, where are they?" Korra asked impatiently. She couldn't feel any people, but that didn't mean they weren't there.

"I don't see anyone."

"They didn't... make it?" the young woman guessed.

"Or they're hiding." She raised her hands into a defense pose, "Spread out. Stay alert." The pair trudged through the muck, searching for any signs of life.

Lin went to the left. Her mutt's ears picked up on a suspicious noise coming near the building's frame. When her ears could pick it up, she recognized it as something scrapping on wood, which meant that it was on the scaffolding that the worker's had been using, or the wooden boards that kept the crew from falling to the basement. Either way, there was no better place to set a trap. Slowly she came closer and closer to the noise when she heard firebending over on the other side of the compound. Her search was put on hold to go to the avatar's aid. Mud-skating to the girl she found no enemies to fight, just an avatar. An avatar who was on the ground, sporting a black eye and bruised cheekbone thanks to a fallen brick.

"I told you to stay alert!" The chief rebuked the girl as she helped her up to her feet.

"I was! There was somebody over here, I came to check it out and I got hit."

"There's more than one." And they were being played with, "Did you see who it was?" Korra shook her head.

"I didn't see anything but part of their shadow. But they went that way." She pointed into the building's frame, "You think it's a trap?"

"Most likely." Lin said evenly as she stepped forward, ready to fight whoever was in there. No one. At least, not in eyesight. Tactically, the two looked over every area, but no one was there, and no one was coming to attack them from the outside. One option left, the basement. There wasn't a visible hole in the temporary wood floor that was big enough for a person to fit through, which made Lin wonder about this, but if this was planned, they might have a way to get in and out quickly without being noticed. Breaking apart a few boards would give away their position, but that had probably already been given done, so two cables lashed out and made short work of three pieces of wood.

"Hello? Anybody here?" Korra called curiously, making Lin roll her eyes,

"Police!" She announced with authority, "Come out with your hands up!" There was no answer, so down the steps and to the large basement, they went. A flame from Korra's hand lit their way. There were noises, small and unintelligible at first. But they were clearly their suspects, a systematic check lead to the far wall, where they were finally cornered, "You've got to be kidding me."

"They're...cute." Tigerdog pups were cowering in several fallen wood crates, not terribly small pups, they were obviously teething and moving pretty freely.

"Yeah. _Cute_." Lin turned to leave. There were still unanswered questions. These pups couldn't be the cause of the explosion, but there was nobody in the damn compound. No one should have gotten through the police barricade, so she still had work to do, "What are you doing?" she asked as she heard shuffling behind her.

"We can't just leave them here." Korra insisted, shifting a crate upright and loading in the pups. There was no sense arguing, so Lin huffed and continued on her way. Outside and out of the building, Tǎoyàn caught her attention with erratic behavior. He was pacing back and forth, whimpering. There was somewhere he wanted to go, but he didn't dare. He was whining at a wayward pup, while they were in the basement he found his way from Koh knows where to the generator and then found some wires to chew on.

"Oh, hey," Korra said surprised, "there's another one." she put down her crate and went to catch the last pup.

"Korra, no!" Lin grabbed the kid before she could get any closer, the hound wouldn't act this way if it were safe to go there. So they watched as the pup managed to get through the rubber layer to the electric and gave himself a shock. Tǎoyàn decided he couldn't take it anymore and ran in, grabbing the pup by the scruff of the neck and hightailing it out of there, but a second too late.

The faint gasoline fumes that kept him away for so long had met the small opening of electric, and it didn't take much to get a fireball going. There was a strange sound, and then it came at them all, Lin and Korra created a barrier to safe themselves and by extension, the pups. The older of the two women pushed the younger down, pinned her against the wall and covered as she felt the flames lick her back and left side, heating up her uniform. What felt like an eternity was actually less than three seconds, and all was normal. Lin let go of the avatar to find her hound. He escaped the ball, mostly, now he was running with his backside on fire. Both benders quickly brought some of the mud and doused him and the pup. The movement made Lin wince.

"What's wrong?" The waterbender asked. The earthbender looked to her hand,her wrist had gotten caught between Korra and the wall, and she hadn't noticed the pressure thanks to the adrenaline.

"I'm fine." She shrugged it off, motioning the hound over with her good hand, relieved to find nothing wrong but singed fur.

"Chief!" Her officers called, coming in full force.

"We're fine!" She shouted back.

"Wow, wait until they find out what really happened." Korra laughed as they finally picked themselves out of the mud.

"Yes, the Police Chief and Avatar were nearly killed by a tigerpup." Lin deadpanned, "I can see the headlines now." The young avatar's eyes widened, and blood started making it's way to her cheeks.

"I didn't think about that."

"Chief what happened?" wasn't that a good question. The members of the duo gave a questioning look to the other before turning back to the inquirer.

"Faulty wiring in the generator." Lin answered evenly, "Ignited the gasoline fumes."

"Probably the same faulty wiring in the shed that caused the explosion." Korra added. This would be their little secret.

_**Present Time**_

"Long story." Lin simply said.

"Yeah." Korra agreed simply.

"Wait a second," Bolin's eyes narrowed, "Scorch marks, mud, tussled hair...you two were fighting, weren't you?"

"Yes!" they could both go with that, no problem, but their quick answer made it subject to suspicion. What little doubt Bolin and Asami still gave the two deteriorated when Tǎoyàn limped up to them, covered in mud with a tigerpup in his mouth. He dropped the pup on the ground and leaned his bad shoulder against Lin's leg. This earned a glare from his master,

"You're not keeping him." She said sternly, the sealhound hunkered and huffed.


	10. Family Portrait

"Hey, Mom." Bolin's head popped into Lin's office, soon followed by his body. His hands were placed firmly behind his back which made the mother raise an eyebrow suspiciously. Between the body language and the devilish grin on the boy's face, it was obvious that there would be no good coming from this. "Look how big your little friend is getting." He brought his hands around to reveal a tigerpup, nearly doubled in size since the day she dropped him off at the police kennel to be trained as an attack tigerdog. "You named him, I take it?" He guessed, bringing the pup in close to his chest and scratching him behind the ears, "Did she name you, Rabeid? I think she did."

"How'd you guess?" She asked with as much sarcasm as she could muster, complete with crossed arms.

"It just sounds like something you would name an animal." He shrugged and attempted to look casual, but a bit of worry came through, like he wasn't sure if he was going to regret what was about to come out of his mouth, "I mean, you _are_ a spiteful woman." He cringed, waiting for a backlash that, to his surprise, never came. It was the truth, how could she possibly deny it, "First, you name your own sealhound 'annoying'-"

"He is." she cut in. The dumb hound had to be by her side nearly every waking moment, he had to sleep at the foot of her bed despite having a bed of his own. He always wanted to put his head right in the middle of her book when she tried to read...what better name for such an annoying mutt than a word that means 'annoying'?

"Then you go and name this little guy 'explode'. And like I said, your full of venom, so I gotta wonder what this little guy did to earn his name." So that was it, the boy was on a fishing expedition. Well, he wouldn't be getting any information from her. The people who were close to her and Korra knew that something amiss with their alibi for that day, that there was more to the story than they were leading on, they just had no idea what could possibly be worth hiding. And Lin planned on keeping it that way.

"He was at the construction site and survived the explosions." She lied flawlessly. True, she didn't like to waste time with lies, but she had to satisfy the boy's curiosity before he went and convinced the avatar to blab. If the truth ever got out, she'd never live it down, "Tǎoyàn smelled like burnt fur for a week."

"Then why didn't you name him something that means 'survivor' or something?"

"Have you forgotten that we're supposed to have a family portrait done today?" She decided to ignore the question completely, "Why are you playing with that mutt?"

"Because he's cute." He laughed as the pup licked his face, "Hey, why didn't you name him 'Lucu'?"

"Would you be frightened of an attack tigerdog named 'Lucu'?" Any police animal with a name like that had better be mean or his own handler wouldn't be able to take him seriously, "Now take him back to the kennels before he gets those pretty cloths Asami dressed you in all dirty. And take Tǎoyàn with you."

"Okay." Bolin had no choice but to surrender the battle. But he wouldn't surrender the war, one day either his mom or his friend would make a mistake, and when that day came, he'd be there to get the info out of them, "Come on Tao. I'll meet you front, Mom."

She finished the last few lines of the form before heading out. The other two in the picture would be meeting them at the photographers before Mako's second shift. The kid was pulling double shifts to earn vacation time for some water tribe festival that Korra wanted her team to attend in three months. She hoped it was worth it, taking on so much work time wasn't easy for a rookie, that she knew first hand.

"About time, Boy."

"I didn't take that long, Mom." He said as he reached around to pull two metal ovals out of the pouch on the back of his belt. A piece of equipment Lin had given him in case of an emergency, when he stretched the metal and formed it to the bottom of his boots he could travel along the zip lines as easily as an armored officer. Bolin attached them, then they used their arm/waist cables to pull themselves up on the lines and,"Alright, we're off."

As they sped along the lines, she felt her son's weight shift on the cables and she screeched to a halt. The first conclusion, that took only millisecond for her to come to, was that he'd fallen off. He might be hurt and she needed to help. But half a second after she stopped, she noticed a shape on the bottom of the cable. The boy was moving upside down, passing her, before bringing himself upright without breaking his pace.

"Sorry, Mom!" He called back to her, "You were going too slow!" Slow? She wasn't slow at all! This had to be a challenge, and she'd never been one to turned down a challenge.

"I'll show you who's slow!" Lin shouted as she raced to catch up with him, then leaped into the air, sailing over him then back down to the metal. When they came to an intersection, he cut the corner, jumping from one line to the other and regaining the lead.

"Nice try!" His gleeful cry turned sour as his mom's cables shot from behind him, coiling around balcony bars on either side of the street, turning her into a giant a sling shot. Now he was in second place again. But he had another chance to get ahead. He lashed out his metal and lifted to a rooftop in hopes of taking a short cut, traveling over buildings instead of around them.

"Boy!" Lin growled. That was a dirty trick, but that was _fine_. If he wanted to take this little race of the beaten path, she'd show him just how rough it could be. Racing around the buildings, and getting on the rooftops, she joined him in leapfrogging across the buildings via cables, jumping over alleyways, swinging across an empty lot, dodging a young couple taking in the beautiful skyline,

"Pardon us!" Bolin said as they rushed past the startled pair, "That's a pretty dress, Miss!" he added for good measure as they bounced away.

"Give it up, Boy!" She turned her head back to him with a smirk, giving him one last chance to back out.

"Never!" He would catch up again, he knew he would. At least he thought he would. There came a point within the next few steps where appearances had deceived him. Where there looked to be a sturdy place to put his feet, but they hit nothing but air. Now the young metalbender laid in the fishing net, completely stunned. What had just happened? His mom ran right here. On further inspection he saw a narrow, easy to miss flag pole that she must have stepped on before she jumped. So now there he was, in an ocean food restaurant's display net, looking like an idiot while his mom got back on the zip lines and sped away.

"Hey, Boy." Lin greeted with a smirk the kid as he trudged up the photo studio's steps, Asami was brushing her windblown hair against her will and Mako was leaning against the door frame. "You stop for supper or what?" He pointed a finger at her accusingly,

"That wasn't fair." Maybe not, but it was funny. As she was about to say that out loud, the door opened and an assistant ushered them in. The photographer took one look at Bolin with his wrinkled cloths and messy hair and set off to work. Grabbing a brush off the table, he styled the hair in a matter of a few quick brushes.

"That jacket," He frowned disapproving, "I can't do anything with. Now we have a few options." He rambled on and on about the ways they could take the focus off Bolin's jacket in the picture. Lin and Mako slowly began to get more and more annoyed. Neither wanting to spend too much time there. But it was Lin that broke first,

"Just take off the jacket, Boy." And that's exactly what he did, along with his brother, mother and best friend. They would all be in their undershirts for the picture...whether the picky camera guy liked it or not.

"Well, I think it'll turn out to be a good picture." Bolin said optimistically as they walked out of the place, while those of the group who weren't wearing armor buttoned their jackets. "How many copies did we order?"

"Five." Asami, who'd been put in charge of the arrangements, answered, "One large framed, and four small lose copies."

"Oh, great."

"Well, I gotta get to work." Mako announced, "Bye." he got a 'goodbye', a kiss, and a 'be careful' before he left.

"He was pretty quiet today." Bolin noticed. And he'd been kind of moody, too, or moodier. He only smiled for the camera after Lin whispered something about knocking the photographer on his ass before it was over.

"I don't know what's wrong." Asami admitted, "He said he was '_fine'_."

"Don't take it personal. He probably had a long day." Lin explained, "And now he's going to have a long night."

"I hope that's all it is."

"Well, what do you guys say to some food. That ocean restaurant smelled pretty good." There was a laugh and an eye roll, but they went to the place that had a net under it's sign and ordered their suppers. They were having a normal meal with normal conversation when a familiar, and yet unfamiliar, voice reached Lin's ears,

"Hey, Maiden!" A man walked up to her, arms open. She recognized his face instantly, even if time had changed it. And his missing hand, the right one, dissolved whatever little doubt was left.

"Qiu." She allowed him to hug her, for old time's sake, and got another one from his wife, Jin.

"Haven't seen you in years."

"About twenty." Lin nodded. She should have kept in touch, but could never bring herself to look him up.

"Let me introduce you to my girl, Nuo.", a kid in her late teens was pulled over in front of the chief, "Nuo, this is my old Captain, Lin Beifong. Chief, this is my kiddo, Nuo."

"Nice to meet you." She shook the teenager's hand, she nodded, but kept quiet.

"This is my boy, Bolin. And this is Asami Sato." polite greetings were exchanged between them.

"Yeah, yeah. I heard you took in kids from Xun."

"The man has a big mouth."

"Always did."

"Pull up a couple of chairs, Qiu."

"Why not?" He pulled a chair from a nearby table and sat down, "Now when you get into the force, Nuo, this woman right here is going make your life a living nightmare."

"I don't paid to make friends."

"Good thing, too." He laughed, making her smile, "You'd fired in a week."

"Still the team goof, I see." It was good to know that the loss of his hand hadn't changed him in spirit, at least. He still smiled the same way he always did and said,

"That's not what you used to call me, Capt."

"No, but your wife is present." And calling an officer, even a former officer, a dumbass in front of their spouse and child was beneath even her.

"Aw, aren't you nice."

"Don't spread that around." She sneered, "I'd hate to have but the fear of Kyoshi back into my officers."

"Still send people to training sessions?" He knew all too well what the Chief of Police did to put fear into subordinates.

"Still 'randomly select' people," Lin corrected, "yeah."

"Ouch. When that happens," he nudged his daughter, "just remember it's for your own good."

"Still sucks though." Bolin piped in.

* * *

><p>It was raining that day so Hiroshi and Baatar spent their time going over blueprints for his new lift system and make any necessary changes in the architect's personal office. After all his visits to the house, both work and non-work related, he'd managed to get to know the family and become a close friend of it, so when three children ran into the room unannounced, he wasn't surprised.<p>

"We'll protect you, dad!" Wei said, getting between his dad and the door with little fists raised along with his twin. Opal grabbed her father and him by the hand and pulled them further into the office to hide behind a drafting table.

"We'll be safe here." She told them reassuringly.

"From what?" The father played along with the game. Hiroshi wanted to sigh and shout at the same time, he could see himself and Asami playing similar games not so very long ago...before the firebending street rat convinced her to turn against him.

"She's coming." Wing said bravely. The room was silent. The children stayed true to their characters, maintaining serious faces as they heard footsteps coming towards them. Finally, a figure appeared.

"I. Am. MELON LORD! MWHAHAHA!"

_**Thud**_.

"Hiroshi?! Su, call a doctor!"


	11. Leaves From the Vine

_ "Dad?" A slightly hesitant voice came from Hiroshi's office door, "Are you busy?" Actually, he was extremely busy, but never so busy that he couldn't spare a few minutes for his only child. _

_ "No, Asami. Come on in." He smiled and waved her in, which made her eyes light up. She came barreling into the room, stopping only inches from his chair, "Did you and your friend, Bolin, have fun with Chief Beifong today?"`_

_ "I am Melon Lord!" Asami laughed wickedly, stretching out her arms and pretending that there were claws coming from her fingers. And, well, he wasn't quiet sure what to think about it. "You're supposed to be scared of a Melon Lord, Dad." His daughter pouted._

_ "I'm sorry, honey. What's a Melon Lord?"_

_ "It's an evil spirit who can-_

_ "It's a story," The woman who'd taken the kids to the park walked into his office to interrupt, "nothing more." _

_ "The Evil Melon Lord can take over your body if you eat a melon seed." Asami's friend finished the explanation, donning an evil grin himself and laughing, "I am Melon Lord!" This was all the encouragement the little girl needed to go for another round of the game. Followed closely by Bolin, she ran around her father, around the Police Chief, and out the door._

_ "Sorry." she apologized, shaking her head with an irritated snort, "My mother told Bolin the story and he told her before I could stop him."_

_ "It's alright. That's what grandmother's are for. But, may I ask...'the Evil Melon Lord'?"_

_ "I don't even know. It's a story my mother made up from a prank she pulled when she was a kid, I think." _

"Hiroshi?" He heard a hazy voice call his name as he slowly became aware of his surroundings, "Hiroshi?" the voice asked again. It wasn't Beifong calling him, he wasn't in his office at the Sato Estate. That much was certain, but as for the rest...he was really confused.

"Baatar." A woman came in. "An ambulance is on the way." In Hiroshi's state, he couldn't make out who it was easily, but he had a good guess.

"Lin Beifong?" No! It couldn't be! He wanted to get up, he knew he had to get away and he had to get away quick. But he was pushed back down.

"No, that's my sister." She said as she came to his side, "I'm Suyin."

* * *

><p>She'd been responsible. She ditched the kids after supper, and headed not to a seedy tavern, where she'd be sure to find the drinks and brawl that she so desperately wanted right now. No, she headed to her own home, were she could brood by herself and take her anger out on whatever inanimate piece of furniture that happened to get in her way. She'd called Captain Lee and told him that she'd be taking a personal day tomorrow. And now, it was time for her to be irresponsible. Lin took her decanter of baijiu off the shelf and poured herself a glass.<p>

_"Su, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Lin shouted as she surprised her thirteen-year-old sister and dragged her away from the two delinquents that she'd decided to take up drinking with. Luckily, she'd gotten to the alley they'd hid in before they could take more than a swig each, otherwise, something might have happened that Lin really didn't want to think about._

_ "Having fun!" Su answered with a shout of her own, trying to pull her arm away, but the grip of her sister was too strong, "Until you came along! Let me go!"_

_ "Not a chance! Those losers aren't having their way with **my** little sister!" Especially by using alcohol to get what they want. _

_ "Half sister." At Su's seething correction, Lin screeched to a halt. She glared at the girl, who looked away for a split second before taking a breath and straightening up. Now the two Beifong's were staring each other down in a contest of dominance. _

_ "Full, half, I don't give a damn." The eldest declared, shoving the youngest forward, "You're my sister and you're not going to pull a stupid stunt like this again! Do you understand me?!"_

_ "You're not my mom, Lin!"_

_ "That's the way you wanna play, fine! You can explain to Mom, then! I'm taking you to her office right now!"_

_ "Fine! She's probably so busy that she won't even notice me come in."_

She tried to kill the memory with a single gulp, unfortunately, it only took the alcohol out of the glass, not the memory out of her mind. Truth be told, she knew it wouldn't do anything to sooth her mind, and she had no idea why she was going to spend the whole night trying anyway.

* * *

><p>"The doctor said you were in shock." How he wished he'd listened to his better judgment and asked for privacy when a knock came to the door. Now the last person he wanted to see at the moment came into the guest room where they'd taken him to rest, "Are you feeling better?"<p>

"Much better, thank you." His confusion was far gone, and now it was time to explain, he could feel it. This person knew the Beifongs somehow, well enough to know their ridiculous little family story, and that didn't bode well for him, "I have no idea what happened."

"She thinks that stress is a main cause."

"Ah, yes. Well, I suppose I have been under a little stress."

"I understand, which is why I hate to pester you," but she couldn't resist, "but I have to know. Why didn't you tell me you knew my sister?"

"Your...sister. Lin Beifong is your...sister?"

"Well, I told you earlier, but you _were_ confused." And, he still was. Suyin was Beifong's sister. If that was true then he was on the run for multiple crimes including the kidnapping and/or assault of this woman's family, "I never knew she had a sister."

"What?" It was Su's turn to experience shock, which quickly faded into disappointment, "She never mentioned me." There seemed to be some issues between the sisters, perfect. Maybe he could still come out of this as free man.

"I take it that the two of you were never close." He guessed, mentally praying to the spirits that he was right.

"Oh, once we were. She was like a father to me," she smiled and shrugged at his confused look. Yes, he'd heard her right. When Su thought of father figure, she thought of her big sister first. Strange? Maybe, but she had never called her family normal, "convincing mom to punish me when I was bad, or trying to, and threatening my boyfriends."

"Sounds like she really stepped up."

"She did her best, but she was too young and I wasn't the perfect kid. Mistakes were made."

_Su tunneled her way to Police Headquarters as fast as her bending would allow. Lin had warned her, she'd been warning her to get away from the wrong people for years, but damned if Su had listened. Now the people that her 'friends' worked for were going to make her an only child, and they'd known about it all along! Luckily she'd overhead them talking about it or Lin would be a goner. But that wasn't going to happen. Lin would be fine, and then, Su was going to go straight. These weren't harmless crimes anymore, and as bad as she was, she never wanted to **hurt** anyone._

_ "Lin!" She caught up with Captain Beifong as she and her team were leaving, probably responding to an anonymous tip that would lead them straight into the Terra Triad's trap, "You can't go out tonight!"_

_ "This area is restricted." The captain glared without breaking her stride,"Leave before you get yourself arrested."_

_ "Lin, listen to me!" She grabbed her sister's arm and spun her around, "It's dangerous." who was she kidding? That would probably make Lin get to the ambush five minutes faster, "For me. It's dangerous. I need your help."_

_ "You got yourself into trouble again?," Lin guessed, Su nodded, "Then you can get yourself out.", she deadpanned without mercy, "I have work to do."_

_ "I can't!" She shouted. Tears, real tears, were starting to leak from her eyes, "I need you!" _

_ "Get outta here, Su!" Lin pushed her aside and started back on her way._

_ "We're family, Lin! Don't turn your back on me! Please!", she could feel the sigh and pout, but by the time Lin turned her face was neutral, "You were right, okay?!" Funny thing was, even with Lin's life on the line it was still hard for her to admit, "My friends weren't my friends! Now they're gonna kill me if you don't come with me right now! Please, big sister, help me!" She felt Lin evaluate her, searching her for truth or deception. But there wasn't deception, at least not the kind the officer was looking for. This was really a life or death situation, just not the life or death that Lin thought._

_"__Tai Yang, you'll take over." _

_ "Yes, Captain."_

_ "Thank you, Lin! You won't regret this! Come with me!" Su lead her sister to the sandpits to tunnel beneath the city. They eventually came up for air at a factory. Who's factory, she didn't know. All she knew was that this wasn't Triad territory, "I think they're in there." She pointed to the door on the right and her big sister took point, kicking the door open...and falling unconscious as a board made contact with the back of her head._

"So how do you know Lin?" The matriarch asked, not even trying to disguise the fact that she was changing the subject.

"She worked the case when my wife was murdered." Hiroshi admitted.

"I'm so sorry."

"It was a long time ago, but I still miss her...and my daughter. She was taken from me too, recently. Both by firebenders." He wiped a tear away, "That's why I came here, for a fresh start, away from everything I knew. I noticed the similarities between you and Lin, but I thought it was just coincidence, and I thought if I could..." he choked himself up for good measure, "but then I heard the Melon Lord...Lin told that to my daughter... it just reminded me of the life I wanted to leave behind.

"I am so sorry for your loses." She gave her condolences again, putting an arm on his shoulder, "No parent should ever have to bury a child."

"It really wasn't right. She should be with me now. If she'd only listened..."

"Hiroshi, I have to ask. How was my sister when you saw her last? We've heard rumors of a terrorist chi-blocker, but you know how rumors grow more outlandish the further away from the source they get. I have to know, is Lin alright?"

"She's fine. There was a terrorist, but he didn't last long against your sister and the avatar. When I left his group of criminals were all but wiped out."

* * *

><p>And another drink...<p>

"Leaves from the vine." she sang out of tune, "Falling so slow, like fragile, tiny shells drifting in the foam..."

_"Captain." Lin woke up in the hospital with a horrible headache._

_ "Su!", she shot up, "Where's my sister?! Is she okay?!"_

_ "Calm down Captain. She brought you here, she's fine. But your team...I'm sorry Lin, they were ambushed. Your lieutenant sent Officer Ren back to get help, but we were too late. Officers Taro and Osamu were pronounced dead at the scene."_

_ "What? No..." Her officers...her friends. How the hell did this happen, "The tip."_

_ "Our informant was a triple agent." And she hadn't been there with them...__she would find the people who did this and she would make them regret it._

It'd taken less than a day to track them down. She'd only found the bodies of Jei and Daiki. Kaoru was beaten within an inch of his life, interrogated for information. Tai Yang lost his right eye, Qiu lost his right hand. Half her team was dead, three quarters of the rest were severally injured. And it'd been all her fault for not being there when they needed her the most.

_"SUYIN!" Lin roared, storming up to one of Su's old hiding spot on the Beifong Estate, "SUYIN! COME OUT NOW!"_

_ "Lin." Su came out of the earth hut with a tear stained face, her lip quivered, "I swear I had nothing to do with-"_

_ "Liar!" she cut her off, "You're under arrest for the murder of four officers!"_

_ "I just wanted to save you! I didn't know they were going to hurt your team!" _

_ "They killed them!" Lin's temper spent, she shot her cables out at Su. In her defense, Su extended her blade and cut the cable. Another one came down and knocked her to the ground by the right shoulder. A smack to the ground and dirt flew into Lin's eyes. Su used the distraction to get up. _

_ The battle quickly escalated into something neither sister wanted. They each were giving their all, no hesitation, no mercy. They weren't siblings anymore... they were enemies. Su started wearing out first. When a pointed boulder came flying at her head she barely got her right arm up to guard her face in time. The rock broke into four pieces, three of them grazing her cheek . She screamed and fell, Lin seemed shocked, but only shocked for a second, then her attack continued. _

_ "Lin!" A rock wall came out of nowhere, curving inwards to form a dome and imprisoning Lin. Their mother propelled herself onto the roof and dug her fingers in to hold the stone together while the eldest daughter tried to break through, "Su! Run!"_

Her breathing became ragged as rage built up within her. Then she picked up the nearest object, the decanter, and shattered it against the wall, "Little... soldier boys come marching home...brave soldier boys come marching home."


	12. Seeking Advice

_Lin was blindfolded and gagged, and scared. The boat rocked slightly as the water moved beneath it. Two men were having quite the time punching her in the gut at the moment. She didn't know why they were doing this to her. All she knew was that first, she'd been kidnapped. Second, and she didn't know how she knew this for certain, the worst was yet to come. _

_ "I got something for her." One of Yakone's henchman said viciously, bringing water up from the river, sharpening the edge and slashing it from the bottom of the jaw on right side of her face to inch or two below her eye. She finally screamed as it cut her gag. They didn't care if they were being honest,_ no one was around for miles and it was a good sound to their ears_."One for Arketah, because your father killed him." He made another slash, "One for Makya, because you killed him." _

_ "One for ___Taro."____ Suddenly she was standing in the boat with Su bound and gagged on her knees. Her eyes were visible, though, and they showed her fear clear as day. She couldn't do this to the kid, she tried to will herself to stop, to help her little sister. Instead, she took her cable and took a horizontal slice out of Su's face. "One for ____Osamu," Another cut, "one for ___Daiki."And another cut._

* * *

><p>"Stop!" Lin bolted upright in her bed, "Damn dreams." She groaned as the panic slowly faded. Forty-three years, and she still had nightmares about the day Yakone's men broke him out and give her the two scars...one for each criminal that died. A few more deep breaths, that nightmare may not top the one that started with her father's death and ended with Bolin's, but it was still pretty unsettling.<p>

Lin knew from her mother that the cuts she put on Su's face with a rock that night had scarred, but up until this moment she could shrug it off. It had been an accident, and it was a lot less than the traitorous brat deserved. But this made her wonder...had Su felt the same way she'd felt when she'd gotten her own set of scars? Was she the monster in Su's dreams?

A loud ring in the darkness brought that train of thought to a screeching halt, and Lin was never so happy for the detraction. Grabbing the phone on the bedside table she offered the traditional greeting before she heard Bolin's slightly panicked voice ask her,

_"You haven't seen Mako, by any chance, have you? He should've been home two hours ago."_ So, the fire breather hadn't come home after his shift. And as with any overprotective parent, Lin's mind immediately jumped to the worst possible explanation, the Triple Threats. They were probably still holding on to that old grudge against her and the boys, but one would think that after she beat Lighting Bolt Zolt to death, they'd take the hint to stay away from them. First thing, though, before she formed a search party and/or assault team against the triad, she needed to make sure that the kid was actually missing.

"You call Headquarters?" Just to make sure that the idiot wasn't trying to pull a triple shift.

_"Yeah, they said he left at midnight and I called Asami, he isn't there either."_ Damn that kid. She knew she shouldn't have let Mako pull double shifts. Looks like she was putting the uniform on today after all, _"I don't know where else he'd be." _

"I'm heading to the station." She pulled herself up off her mattress, rubbing her eyes as she went. This couldn't be happening to her, not again. If there was any mercy in life, this would all be a simple misunderstanding. As soon as her feet hit the floor, her wish was fulfilled. She sensed another person in the house and breathed a sigh of relief, Mako was sleeping in the sitting room. He was safe, "Never mind, Boy, he's crashing here, apparently."

_"...Okay. So...sorry for waking you, and I'll see you later. And tell that man to call next time!"_

"I will, and don't worry about it." she was just glad the kid was in one piece. He may get a smack on the back of the head for not letting his brother know where he was, but a bump on the head wasn't a serious injury. "Go back to bed, Boy."

_"You too."_

"Don't order me around."

_"Yes, chief."_ The chief could practically hear him salute as she hung up on him. No, there would be no more sleep for her, not after two adrenaline rushes. So, she might as well get her day started. First, there was broken glass that needed to be cleaned up in the kitchen. Second, there were rocks in the yard that needed to be thrown. And then, there was a rookie who's ass needed to be kicked, of course the second and third items on her list of things to do today could be combined to save time. Making her way down the stairs to the first destination, the telephone rang again.

"Couldn't that boy just go back to sleep?" she grumbled to herself, going back up the stairs to pick up the receiver a second time, "Chief Beifong."

_"Lin?"_ It was Asami this time,_ "Have you seen Mako? Bolin called and said he wasn't there. He was supposed to come here after his shift ended, but he never showed up."_

"He's over here, and why the hell would he be coming over to your house at one in the morning?" And the answer had better be a good one.

_"..." _Thoughtful silence, very encouraging, _"Just for a minute to get a kiss goodnight?"_

"That better be all he was going to get! And it better be all he's ever going to get from you!" This time, she slammed the receiver down. Damn teenagers, it should be legal to lock them all up in jail until they turned thirty.

"Hey, Lin?" Well, there was number three, fresh up off the couch. It was funny, when the kids moved out, she honestly thought they'd stop annoying her at hellish hours of the morning. What a fool she'd been.

"Now what do you, want? The telephone to make a couple calls to the people you should've called last night when you got off work?" She raised an eyebrow as he looked like a scolded pup, "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Well," he looked at the ceiling nervously, "You're pretty close to headquarters, and I didn't know how far my motorcycle was going to make it."

"When did you get a motorcycle?" Someone needed to explain to her why she was out in the rain, at two-thirty in the morning, looking at a junk pile pretending to be a motorized vehicle.

"They said if I can fix it, I can have it and use it on by shift." He showed her the work-in-progress, and told her of what few, many, _little things_ were wrong with it. She could see what was coming a mile away and she didn't like it one bit.

"But you don't know anything about it." Which, of course, was why he was bringing it to her, so she could do all the work and he could have a new toy on his patrols.

"Not really..." he said while he avoided eye contact, "Do you think you could take a look at it?" They were standing there, getting soaked, waiting for her to say something. Could she look at it? Yes. Did she want to? No. But when was the last time Mako asked her for anything? To be honest, Lin couldn't remember him ever asking for a single thing. And it might be easier on him if he could spend at least some of his shift off of his feet.

"It's junk, but bring it inside." She turned to go back in, "I might be able to use it for scrap metal."

"Alright?" He followed her, but was somewhat confused, how was he going to get a motorcycle up her steps and into her sitting room, "Uh..." the sound of earthbending was heard and the steps molded themselves into a ramp, "got it." Up and in they went.

"Clean up this water." While she fetched her tools from her work, formerly the boys', room. Well, she had thought he'd grab a couple towels or a mop, but his firebending worked fine too, as long as he was smart about it. "You'd better not burn anything." Like he had last time.

"Don't worry, I'm being careful." He assured her, not that she felt as confident about it as he did.

"Whatever." She didn't feel like having a discussion on the fundamentals of water control at the moment anyway. Turning on the engine to listen for any clues, she had but one thing to say, "Damn, this is a piece of junk." there were a lot of parts to be mended, or replaced. Good thing she had the day off, it'd take her that long. "You probably just saved them a towing bill."

"So there's nothing you can do?"

"This whole thing's gonna have to be torn apart, but I can get it back in shape." There was one problem that she couldn't fix, a cosmetic one, "But you'll have to have someone else put a coat of paint on it. Maybe take it to the girl, she's pretty good with that stuff." A pause, usually a good indicator that something wasn't right in Mako's little world, "That a problem, Kid?"

"Umm, no. It's fine." Gee, could that be a lie by any chance?, "Hey Lin, do you mind if I ask you something?" _'Oh spirits,' _she said silently, _'I've just been dragged down memory lane, I'm tired and I'm a little hungover...don't tell me that this teenaged knucklehead is gonna come to me with relationship troubles.' _Against her better judgment, she told him to go ahead and ask, "When did you know that it was over with Tenzin?" '_I hate every damn one of you for this.'_ She focused on the work in front of her.

"When he told me he was leaving me." Lin grunted.

"...okay. But you two had been growing apart for awhile, right?" Well, she hadn't thought so at the time. She had, begrudgingly, agreed to have kids and live on the island for the sole purpose of not losing Tenzin. A few months later he was breaking it off, telling her how she was always working and he never saw her anymore. So maybe she wanted to get as much work done as she could before she became a caged broodmare on Air Temple Island.

"According to the airhead." It was a better explanation, she didn't want to talk about old feelings, especially with a kid.

"I think me and Asami are growing apart too." Mako said reluctantly, "I mean she's great, I love her and I don't want to hurt her, but we don't spend that much time together anymore." And this was when the moonlighting mechanic turned away from her work to give him an annoyed glare,

"And why are you telling _me_ this?" Damn, this idiot was going to be just as timid and indecisive as the airhead, wasn't he?

"Because I'd like a little advice!"

"What do you want me to tell you, Kid? That life will never get in the way, and neither of you will ever have to work unfair hours and be apart for more than an hour?" Sweet notions, but life loved to get in the way and screw people over. She was living proof of that.

"I know that, but-"

"Got some news for you, Mako." she wasn't even going to let him finish that dumb sentence, "Relationships aren't just sunshine and rainbows. You're gonna hit rough patches, you'll piss each other off and you're gonna confuse the hell outta each other. Sometimes you'll want to kill each other but you won't because it's murder and you'll go to prison, that and you'd miss the other too damn much. It takes work, Kid. But for reasons I can not fathom, Asami loves you too, so get with her and work it out."

"..." Did he hear her wrong, did she stutter or was this just over his head?

"Just, go sleep in my bed, Kid." she waved him off, "You've got another shift in a few hours."

* * *

><p>"You'll do fine." Asami told her best friend as she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him off the ferry's gangplank, holding steady as he fought against her, "Come on, Bo, you'll thank me for this later."<p>

"I'm gonna thank you for letting me make an ass of myself again?!" As an expert on himself, he could safely say that he was not going to be thankful for this barbaric treatment, ever. "No, Asami, don't make me do this! Please!"

"Come on, Bo, you can do this!" Her pep talk was not working, her soft assurances hadn't worked either. Something here had to give, or all hope would be lost.

"I should've never have told you!" He tried to lean over, maybe she'd stop if they both fell off the dock into the ocean, and if he got really lucky he'd drown before the diabolical woman could carry out her dastardly plan.

"You didn't, I guessed." Asami's suspicions had been confirmed when they were eating dinner and she suggested a double date with him and Korra. Bolin had nearly choked on his food and started stammering on about how she was 'just a friend' and 'he didn't think of her that way' as well as other such tell-tale coverups.

"Well, quit being such a good guesser-ouch!" He continued to pull, not knowing that Asami was going to spin around to look him in the eye and tell him how ridiculous he was acting. This made them both fall. Now she was on top of him, but instead of apologizing, getting off him and forgetting the whole thing, she used moved into a holder position. Now Bolin was really trapped.

"Quit worrying. Korra really likes you."

"No she doesn't, not that way! I'm just the goofy friend to her. I gotta face facts, I screwed up any chance I had of her going out with me so let me go wallow in self pity and takeout noddles."

"Hey guys!" A friend of theirs called from a little ways off.

"Korra!" They shouted simultaneously, one from excitement, one from dread.

"Asami, please don't say anything!" he pleaded in a frantic whisper for his pride, "Remember when your father always paid me to chaperon your dates instead of a governess, and I always left you alone when you asked? Well, I'm calling in the favor, don't embarrass me."

"Hey, what are you guys doing?" The avatar asked as she made her way up to them.

"Oh, we're just having a little...debate." Asami lied, finally letting Bolin up, and dusting herself off, "Do you think you could settle it for us?"

"Uh, sure."

"You see there's a girl Bolin wants to ask out," the fore mentioned wanted for a tidal wave to appear and smash him against the rocks right then and there, "but he doesn't know how. So, how would you like for someone to ask you out? Oh, and where would you want to go out for a date?"

"You don't have to answer that!" Bolin waved his arms back and forth, "Just because Asami here-", He gave her a dirty look, which she returned with a rare, and childish, protruding tongue, "thinks I need a date."

"No, it's okay." Korra said, but without the enthusiasm of someone helping out a friend in need, "I guess if it were me, I'd like a guy to just ask, you know? And I don't know where we'd go, I haven't got to see much of the city. At least when I wasn't chasing Amon."

"You see, Bolin. Girls like it when you_ come out and ask them_." She nudged him with her elbow. He took a deep breath.

"Okay, I'll do that." _'It's now or never, Bo. Just say you'd like to show her around the city or something. Yeah, that'll work!'_.

"Well, I think I hear Jinora calling me." Korra looked away as if she'd heard something, but if she had, she was the only one who'd heard it, "I promised to meditate with her before dinner. I'll see you guys later."

"But..." Bolin slumped and Asami smacked her forehead as Korra's back got further and further away, "I blew it again, didn't I?" She patted his back compassionately.

"Maybe next time."


	13. Preparation

"Okay, okay," Bumi held up his hands as the laughter continued. This week's dinner had been slaphappy from the start, the cause probably being Mako's long awaited return. Apparently, once you took extra hours in the police force, it was hard to give them up. The overworked firebender had been trying to get back down to one shift, at least a couple of days of the week, for the better part of a month. But it'd finally happened. Tenzin and Lin were working late with the council, but even though the family wasn't quite complete, everyone was in the mood for joyful stories."I got one since the alpha badgermole isn't here."

"Oh, this has to be good." Bolin was always ready for a funny story that couldn't be told when the alpha wasn't there to hit anyone.

"Let's hear it." Asami smiled, leaning on her boyfriend as they settled in for a story.

"Alright, so picture it. Young Lin Beifong, still married to her late husband, boasts and brags about this guy who wet his pants and fainted when her team came bursting through the windows. Well I manage to con the woman into making a bet with me that 'she'd never faint from anything other that blood loss'. If she ever fainted, she had to be my personal bodyguard during every shore leave for two years. Every two years she went without fainting, I had to do whatever she wanted during half my shore leaves during the third year. Obviously, I couldn't afford to lose, but I had my work cut out for me."

"I'll say." Pema cut in. Meelo's face transformed into an large, evil grin.

"How'd ya get her, Uncle Bumi?" He asked with full confidence.

"Well, I used the old noggin and thought to myself, 'Bumi, my boy, what could scare Lin Beifong'. And I thought, and I thought, and then it hit me like a forty pound boulder...children!" he pounded the table for good measure, "Children scare Lin Beifong."

"We do?" Ikki asked with a cocked head, "Why is she afraid of us? Is she afraid we'll bite her kneecaps off?"

"We can scare her!" The eldest son cheered, "Yeah! She's not scared of crooks, but she's scared of us!"

"That was back in the day, Meelo." Mako shook his head, "Don't push your luck with Lin."

"So one day Lin was at the hospital for some kinda small injury, and I pay off the nurse. They were walking out to the lobby when she informed Lin that she was pregnant...she fainted! Ju-" he had to stop because of the roaring laughter, "Just like that.** Lights out**. Th-," he held his sides, then he wiped a tear away before continuing, "The best part is, that as she was falling towards the floor, some charmer decided to catch her. Well, she wakes up in the arms of a stranger and he says, 'swooning over me?'"

"Oh, no." there was a collective gasp from the table, everyone, even then the small children, knew where this was going.

"Lucky they were in the hospital so the healers could fix his broken nose! Toph feels everything from the other side of the room, laughs and says 'Yep, _that's_ my girl."

"Okay, real or not," Bolin laughed, holding his sides just like Bumi had, "that was a good one!"

"Hey, it's completely true!" Bumi defended himself, "Have a little trust in your old uncle."

"Oh, come on, Uncle Bumi," Mako joined his brother's side of the argument, "Who'd be stupid enough to try that on Lin?"

"She was just wearing an undershirt. Never underestimate the power of the white tank top, Mako. People see her in that and caution goes to the wind."

"Well, that _is_ true." The omega badgermole switched sides, "Right, Asami?" he nudged her with his elbow with an impish smirk. She nudged him right back, but much harder, "Ow! Hey it's not my fault you had a crush on my mom!"

"You had a crush on Beifong?! When?" Korra's jaw dropped, she couldn't believe anyone would have a crush on that grouchy woman, "And why?". Meanwhile, the children just looked confused, like they didn't realize their aunt Lin could be found attractive. She was an aunt, and aunts were just aunts, nothing more, nothing less. Mako stiffened up in a short of shock,

"My brother's _mom_?!" Had he heard that right? No, there was no way his girlfriend had a crush on his brother's mom, they must have meant Baako or Banu. Wasn't the tall, brown haired maid named Banu? That had to be it.

"It wasn't a crush." she insisted evenly, "I just admitted that I thought she was pretty when she smiled."

"It was a crush." Bolin called her on her lie.

"It was not!"

"In her defense," Bolin decided to have mercy, "it wasn't like a huge crush. She didn't write down 'I love Lin' all over her journal or anything. And I don't remember it lasting a month." They believed him, Asami could tell. And now nothing she said would change their minds.

"You told me you'd let me forget about it." She almost whined. Fine, she had a little crush on Lin when she was younger, but thankfully she grew out of it. The whole thing was embarrassing and a little uncomfortable to look back on, now that the same woman was like a stepmom to her. And just when she almost forgot about it, something or _someone_ would remind her.

"I'm only bringing up because it supports Uncle Bumi's theory." He told her before addressing the table, "You should never underestimate the power of the undershirt, because I can pinpoint the exact moment Asami developed a crush on mom. It was when mom smiled while wearing a white tank top...after a grueling training session." he patted his friend's arm, "Don't worry, your self-defense instructor was staring at her, too." he wiggled his eyebrows at the family suggestively, "They both like them some nice muscle tone." he flexed his muscles for show.

"Oh she was just appreciating the scenery, right Asami?" The crazy uncle laughed.

"I was twelve!" She had just hit puberty, and Lin was beautiful, and she was lucky she'd only been a kid or she would have been 'invited to train' right along with Sifu Ling. It looked like it hurt.

"Quit teasing her, Bumi." Pema stepped in to help Asami, "It's actually pretty sweet." The girl in question smiled gratefully, but her blush darkened.

"Wait a second." Mako said out of the blue as shook his head, finally coming out of his daze, "You two told me once that you tried to set her up with your father." He hadn't meant to open a wound, and Asami knew that, but it didn't stop her from looking downwards. Bolin decided to cover for her.

"We did. That was two years later, by then Asami was looking back on the pretty white tank top which showed the nice muscles, and the pretty smile, and fondly saying 'eewww'." Now Asami was hiding her face in her hands. They would never, ever, going to let her live this down.

* * *

><p>"This needs to be done." Lin, the city council, and the two presidential candidates were in city hall trying to sort out the matter of Noatak's, otherwise known as Amon, trial. The people were getting restless concerning him, and his punishment, and it could very quickly escalate into a huge problem. The trial wasn't to be held for another week, but for safety's sake, Lin wanted a closed trial, tomorrow.<p>

"This terrorist's trial must be made public." one of the candidates, the Water Tribe descendant said, oh so valiantly, "To show everyone that justice will be served." If it was justice he wanted, she could give it. All she had go do was walk into Noaktak's cell and put her blade through his heart. Justice served.

"I agree," the Earth Kingdom descendant said with the same vigor, "we can't hide in the shadows. The people must know that we will punish those who hurt them." And this way they could both publicly look like heroic leaders.

"I'm not going to risk a riot so you two can fight over the publicity." Lin barked, "A lot of people want him dead _now_, including most of my officers." Including her. If the citizens did decide that they couldn't wait any longer and made a run on the building, there was only a handful of officers she could think of that would actually defend it. They wouldn't be enough to hold it against a mob, and she wasn't about to sacrifice good people to save that monster.

"You can't control your own officers?" Raiko was going to be a pain in her ass if he was elected. She made a mental note to vote for the other guy.

"Many of our police officers were imprisoned, depowered, wounded, or lost their friends in the Equalist Movement." The Fire Nation Representative came to her defense, not that she'd asked for any help, "We can't blame any of them for wishing death upon the man responsible."

"I can't guarantee the safety of anyone in that courtroom, it needs to be closed." Lin said to end the argument. A public trial couldn't happen, it was just too dangerous.

"Can we legally move up the trial?" The Air Nation Representative asked, willing to do anything to avoid unnecessary violence, if at all possible.

"We can," one of his co-workers, from the Southern Water Tribe, answered,

"And it may be for the best." Another one agreed. The third and forth nodded their consent.

"Can we get all the witnesses in by tomorrow afternoon?"

"I'll send my officers to escort them." They weren't going to like being dragged off to court without warning, but it was necessary for everyone.

"The public has a right to know."

"We can have the trial published word for word in a special edition paper, but we have to think about the safety of our citizens. Noatak's trial will be closed to the general public, and will be held tomorrow afternoon at one o'clock." The meeting was adjourned with the sound of a gavel. Lin headed back to her office, there was so much to get done and not a lot of time. Tenzin joined her a bit later to go over the security measures, and brought take out food with him. She took her portion and went back to the large map city map that covered her desk, and the smaller blueprint of the Court House laid in the corner.

"I'll have the witnesses brought in through this side entrance. Then we'll bring Noatak along this route," she traced it with her free hand, "and bring him in through the back entrance. I'll have officers stationed here," she pointed, "here, and here. And at every hallway. Every fifth officer will have a radio, and headquarters will be on alert. With any luck, no one will know what's going on before it's over."

"Spirits willing." Tenzin nodded as a knock was heard at the door. That must be the kids, she'd told her secretary to call them and have them come in as soon as dinner was over. Just in case it wasn't them, Lin flipped the map over on itself and set her food on top of the papers before snapping the lock open.

"Enter." She was glad she followed her instincts, the pain in the ass candidate came in with a crazy-looking Water Tribe man.

"Councilman Tenzin. Chief Beifong." He greeted before turning to the man at his side, "This is Varrick."

"Councilman Tenzin. Chief Beifong. Great to meet the both of you, heard a lot of things about you both." He grinned and put a hand up to his mouth, blocking Raiko's view, "Don't worry, I don't believe a word of it. Zhu Li! Bring in the thing!" A short woman heaved in a heavy piece of equipment. Lin and Tenzin looked at each other and frowned, neither had any idea what that strange looking machine was and neither cared. They were a little busy at the moment.

"What is this?" Tenzin couldn't help but ask with a raised eyebrow.

"This beauty can really capture the moment! It takes moving pictures of people and plays them in order so it's like watching a play! But a zillion times better!" He stretched his arms upwards as if that would emphases his point. Hei Bai give her patience.

"What is it doing here?" she growled. She didn't care what the hell that thing was, she wanted it out of her office, now.

"Since you insist on having a closed trial, we'll film it with Varrick's machine-"

"Then after the trial tomorrow, everyone will get to see everything!" he rubbed his chin, "After they pay, of course. The proceeds alone are mind boggling!" Dead silence. Followed very shortly by a very loud,

"What are you thinking, telling him?!" Lin roared. Slamming her office door behind the assistant and getting in Raiko's personal space, "The point of having the trial tomorrow is so that no one knows about it!" she seethed just quietly enough for the sound to not escape the room. This man couldn't become her president, she would kill him within a week. He may not survive the night to even try for it.

"Don't worry, Chief." The madman risked his life by throwing an arm around her shoulder, and fell to the ground when she pushed him away, "I can keep a secret." He grinned as he rose from the floor with no effort of his own, just his assistant pushing him back up. The little woman was stronger than she looked.

"You'd better, or I'll throw you in-"A knock stopped her, "Who is it?!" she was in the middle of a threat!

"It's us, Mom." That boy always did have a habit of interrupting her meetings.

"Get in here." Four teenagers entered the room hesitantly, her voice alerting them to the anger and tension that awaited them in there.

"Why don't we discuss this at the council meeting tomorrow morning?" Tenzin made an effort to settle the matter with Raiko and Varrick while Lin's attention was not on them.

"I think that's a good idea, Councilman Tenzin."

"It's not gonna be too early is it?" Varrick slumped, "Because I floss my teeth at ten and then Zhu Li cleans my toes at ten thirty and-" Lin growled, and he cringed, "On second thought...the earlier, the better! Zhu Li, bring the thing!" He strutted out like a peacockfox with his assistant behind him, leaving Lin to give the death glare to the Water Tribe candidate.

"I will see you both tomorrow. Councilman, Chief."

"I will be heading home myself, if you don't need me." Tenzin took this chance to leave and Lin nodded for him to get out of there, she didn't need him to hold her hand while she worked. He bid everyone a goodnight and followed the others out. After the door shut she turned her glare to the four teens,

"Alright." They snapped to attention as she addressed them, "Noatak's trial's been moved to tomorrow at one o'clock." She got a series of 'what', 'why's and 'how come's. But she held up a hand to silence them. "The council and I think it's too dangerous to have a public trial, and were trying to avoid a riot. So keep this quiet. Come here, all of you." She removed her food from the map and set the blueprints in front of them, "Mako, Bolin, you'll both be with me on security inside the courtroom here." that caused some curious stares to come her way. She was assigning _**Bolin**_ to a security team? Yes, that had to raise a red flag, "Asami, I want you to sit as close as you can to us, do you understand?"

"Sure, Lin."

"Mako, take off your glove, let me take a look at your blade." She knew she was probably scaring the kids a little, but she was worried herself. These four had to be at the trial, they were some of the star witnesses, and she wanted to make damn sure that they were prepared. Which was why Bolin was on security, so he would have every excuse to be armed to the teeth.

"Okay?" Mako held out his left arm, touched his thumb to his little finger and a blade extended out of his arm guard. She put a hand on each side to check it's stability, and ran her fingers along it's edges to sharpen the blade. Then she told him to retract it so she could get a look at the tiny cable and pulley system that triggered the weapon. After everything passed her inspection, she let him put his glove back on.

"Girl." She walked around her desk and got two items out of her desk, "Come here." The girl only looked at her with wide eyes, "Come here." she repeated. When Asami finally obeyed, Lin rolled up her sleeve and attached an arm guard onto her.

"You kept the blades I made you? Why would you keep them?" Why wouldn't she? True, she'd never got to use them when Amon took her bending, but you never know when something like a pair of blades that require no metalbending will be useful. And only four months after Amon's defeat, she had use for them, "They're not made to fit me."

"We're close to the same size." Lin said simply, placing a ring with a tiny cable attached to Asami's thumb, another to her little finger, and resized them to fit. Then she closed her eyes, felt the weapon with seismic sense and adjusted the tension on the inner pulley system to match the younger woman's arm, "Try it out." Asami touched her finger to her thumb and the blade extended exactly as it should. She repeated the motion, and it retracted. Next Lin checked and sharpened the blade, then the entire process was repeated with the other arm and arm guard, "You'll wear these tomorrow, and wear gloves to cover the trigger."

"Doesn't she need a permit for that?" Bolin asked the group, who all turned to give him a look that shut him up. Asami, though, was obviously trying to hide a touch of nervousness about the idea.

"I'll make sure security doesn't check you." She offered a slight comfort.

"Lin, you think there'll really be trouble at the trial?" Mako asked, wanting to know what put Lin into protective mom mode.

"I think a lot of people want Noatak dead and will plow through innocent people to get to him." She answered before straightening up like a general addressing her troops, "Tomorrow, if anything happens, Mako, Bolin, Asami, I want you three to do nothing to stop the assult. Boys, I want you to get the judge, jury and witnesses out of harms way as fast as possible. Asami, you help them. Avatar, you and I will protect Noatak and Tarrlok. Don't give me that look, kid," she sneered at Korra's disgusted gaze, "you think it's my dream job to protect those bastards? Now," she drew their attention back to the blueprints, "We need to go over emergency routes." They spent the next three hours going over every hallway they could take the innocent people into, every exit they could take them out through, every plan and backup plan, and finally she sent them home to get a good night's sleep.


	14. Trial and Error

"Alright, you all know which routes to take to the courthouse?" Lin asked as they prepared to leave for the trial. They'd all be traveling separately to avoid suspicion and that meant she wanted to make sure that not only they didn't get lost, but that they heeded her word and stayed as far away from the others as possible. Teenagers had a tenancy to be attached at the hip, after all. So when she got the usual bored/exasperated 'yeahs', she glared, not trusting them to decide that it was no big deal if they all arrived together, at the courthouse of all places, where newspaper informants waited around all day for such tell-tale signs of a good story, "It's important that you don't show up at the same time or go through the same entrances."

"Yes, Chief." Mako saluted, transforming into the picture of a disciplined officer.

"Yes, Chief." Bolin saluted a spit second later, but obviously only mocking his serious big brother.

"Yes, Lin." Asami decided that standing at attention was a sufficient jeer, and she was even nice enough to give her an apologetic smile.

"Alright, Beifong." The always defiant avatar crossed her arms with a sneer. How much jail time was standard for four assault charges? Ten years, at least considering her record? But surely the judge would go easy on her, most of them were old enough to have children of their own, she was sure to get one that would understand why she did it.

"Get outta here, all of you." She growled, deciding that the jail time was just not worth it, not when she could come up with better ways to get them all back later, "Not you, Boy." She suppressed a smirk as he stiffened up and turned around tightly, "You, close the door. The rest of you, if I catch you eavesdropping..."the threat hung in the air, mostly to let their own active imaginations create vivid images of their coming punishment.

"But they were bad, too." He pouted, looking like a little kid, or a beaten polarbear pup.

"Calm down, Kid, I didn't hold you back to punish you."

"Really?" He perked up, "Why not?" it was obvious the boy regretted that question as soon as it left his mouth, and she was tempted to say that she'd get him when she didn't have a trial to guard.

"I wanted to tell you that I need you to do something for me."

"Oh, okay." Boin agreed without hesitation, "What?"

"I'm going to need you to look after the girl and your brother, alright?"

"No problem." He said with a smile, and without a care. This worried the chief, he should be more concerned. All the kids should be, but even after the Equalist Movement, they still had no idea how quickly things, even with the best laid plans, could go south.

"This is serious, Son." Lin put a hand on his shoulder, "All it takes is one mistake, and we have a lot of trouble on our hands. If it comes to that, I'm counting you to keep the other two safe." Granted, the other two were more than capable of taking care of themselves, but Bolin was the best fighter of the three. So even if he was the youngest, he still had to bear the responsibility of their safety.

"I will." He still smiled, but it was a serious smile now, that was good enough.

"Good, now get outta here." She went around to sit in her chair as he made his way to the door, "And don't do anything extremely stupid."

"I won't." the kid's smooth exit was ruined when he had to screech to a halt to avoid hitting a large red and yellow mass, "Oh, hey Uncle Tenzin."

"Bolin." The airbender nodded with a smile as they slid past each other, one out of the office and the other into it.

"Lin."

"Tenzin. What are you doing here?" Twenty yuans said she wasn't going to like this.

"The Council thought it would be best if you had help escorting Amon to the Courthouse." Ah, that was it. Lin might have known. And here she'd thought that she'd been behaving rather professionally towards and about the underhanded, lying, child-threatening, bloodbending, warmongering, terrorist bigot.

"They want you to babysit me." She delivered the obvious translation with a sneer, "I can handle Noatak."

"They worried that being in such close quarters, well you might be tempted to do something rash."

"The thought's crossed my mind." It certainly save the all a lot of time, he was going to be found guilty and executed. And if on the odd chance his brother managed to pay off not only the outside judge, but the outside jury as well, the man would be attacked before he got five feet out of headquarters. And she wouldn't do a damn thing to stop it, "But why should I face a murder charge? One way or another, he'll be dead soon enough."

"The end of a life is not something you should feel satisfaction over. Vengeance is a disease that will consume you, but there is peace in forgiveness." He couldn't just shut his mouth this one day, could he?

"Don't." She rose slowly, putting her hands on her desk and staring him down, "You have no damn right to talk to me about forgiveness, you don't have any damn idea. That monster's goons kidnapped my son. He took my bending. He _threatened my family_, and he got my officers killed. So save all of your self-righteous talk for your acolytes, and leave me the hell alone!"

"Lin, I cannot do that. The Council tasked me to assist you."

"Then assist me by shutting up and letting me do my job. He'll make it to his trial alive." She sat down and furiously filled out paperwork while he cautiously, and wordlessly, took a seat in chair across from her. The time seemed to crawl while they waited to get the former bloodblender out of his cell, and they spent most of that time in awkward silence.

"So..." Tenzin said when he felt that she had significant time to cool off, "...you seem to have all the security measures under control."

"Of course, I do."

"Though some of the measures that you have taken seem a little...extensive." He dared to look her in the eye as she put her pen down.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Tenzin." Lin admitted after some serious inner struggle. Nothing in her entire being wanted to admit that she was not confident, but that was probably obvious at this point.

"Me too." He rubbed his beard, "But after everything that happened, maybe our nerves are simply on end."

"Or maybe every time we tried to deal with this bastard, things went wrong." She flat-lined.

"That's a possibility, too."

"Come on, let's get this over with." Maybe a bit early, but damn it, sitting in the office was going to drive her up the wall, she could always walk slowly to Noatak's cell or something. "Tǎoyàn, come."

* * *

><p>After Bolin avoided the collision with his uncle he joined up with Mako and Asami. Korra was scheduled to head out first, so the remaining three decided to kill some time in the break room. Asami was the first to ask him the obvious question,<p>

"You're not in trouble are you?"

"What?" he waved her off, "No. She...well she just wanted to be...uh...motherly? And you know how she is about showing sentiment in front of people." Well, at least it wasn't a complete lie.

"We're not people." Mako muttered. Seriously, they were buying it? Was he finally learning how to lie...or was his line about his mom hiding any trace of motherly love from the world just too believable, "We're practically her kids, too."

"Well, yes," Asami patted his shoulder, "but we're just the stepkids, and we all know Bolin's the favorite." And he was the baby of the family, of course Lin was going to pull him aside and tell him to be careful.

"Bolin's the momma's boy." Mako grumbled, crossing his arms.

"That is true." She agreed, it wasn't as if that was some big secret.

"Hey!" His face twisted into an angry frown, "I am n-"

"Don't even try to deny it, Bro." The big brother stopped him from even finishing, he was only going to make it worse by denying it.

"Sorry, Bo, but you really are a momma's boy." The best friend said as softly as she could. It was the truth, and Bolin had to accept that. The momma's boy crossed his arms and pouted, imitating his mother's pout, ironically enough.

"Most guys don't have a mom as cool as mine."

* * *

><p>"Noatak." Lin slammed the cell door open as Tenzin waited for her to bring him out.<p>

"Chief Beifong," the terrorist closed his book and looked up from his cot, "how thoughtful for you to visit me in cell. I have been getting rather lonely in here."

"I'm not visiting, you're trial's been moved up." Her cuffs flew from her hands and to his wrists, and she pulled him up by them. "Let's go." They took the least traveled route to the garage, to the armored truck conveniently placed right at the hallway entrance.

"Is this really necessary, Chief Beifong?" he asked as she chained him to the truck wall, "Without my bending, I am harmless." Lin's mind instantly flashed to her time back in the equalist prison, when he used the same words to ask her if killing Zolt had been necessary. And she had the same answer as she had back then.

"That's what they said about Yakone." Her voice practically dripping in contempt.

"I am not my father." He insisted, insulted by the very idea of being compared to that man.

"I don't care." she said as she banged the wall twice to get the driver's attention. "Let's go. Tǎoyàn, guard." And off they went, during the long ride, Lin stayed as vigilant as her sealhound. She kept waiting for him to try to make his escape, surely a man like him couldn't be so dependent on his bending that he'd be lost without it.

"He didn't move a muscle." Tenzin observed as the bailiffs took the criminal into the courtroom, "His defeat must have left him broken."

"No." The Chief said sharply as she watched the doors as if she could see through them, "He's waiting for something."

"Lin, are you certain that-"

"Yes!" she seethed, no this was not nerves or fear, "He was underestimated before, and he took over the city. We can't afford to make the same mistake twice." As they entered the courtroom, the airbender was much more cautious than he'd been a minute before. Lin took her place near the judge, in front of her boys as she surveyed the room. Twenty guards, not including her or the boys. Two more at the entrance. Another one by the madman, his machine and his assistant. She hoped it would be enough.

"All rise, court is now in session, the honorable Judge Zhi presiding." They went through the formalities. The prosecution told the jury about a terrorist who came to the city under false pretenses, started a war, stole bending from innocent people, the defense made an elegant speech about a troubled man who took the wrong path for the right reason, and then the real fun began... the witness.

Out of the people she was concerned with, Mako was called first. The prosecution made him out to be a man looking for the woman who took him in and trying to defend the city at the same time. The defense brought up his sordid past to make him lose credibility.

Bolin was the next of her family, the prosecution called him a devoted son who protected the city in his mother's absence even while searching for her. The defense reminded the jury that due to his circumstances, he had a blind hatred of the defendant, and would do or say anything to see him put to death.

Asami was the third. Not surprisingly, the prosecution made her out to be the reluctant hero, who turned against her own father to defend what was right, and the defense asked just how Hiroshi had managed elude authorities for so long.

Lin was the last of them. She had to give a very detailed recount from the time Bolin had been kidnapped, to the escape. And how lucky she was that the megaphone man and Zolt's goons weren't there to add little details to her story that might get her put on trial herself. Prosecution said she was a mother, trying to save her family, and a Chief trying to save her city. Defense tried to claim that she was just fighting the son of her mother's foe.

Korra was directly after her. She had to tell the court about her duel with Amon, and various other things through the months, but they all wanted details, every single detail, about the final battle. Prosecution didn't have to say much, this was the avatar after all. Defense barely had the guts to ask by who's authority did she take Noatak's bending away.

The last witness was one that Lin wished they could have forgotten, Noatak's own brother. The prosecution got a lot out of him, but he was still a politician at heart, and he had a way of twisting it around to make his brother look like a victim. Then the defense got a chance at him, and sob story about their father bought him sympathy, she could tell.

The closing arguments were made, and the jury was sent out to make their decision. At only seven hours, this trial had been shorter than anyone had anticipated, even her. That meant that the verdict was going to be short too. And nothing could make her happier, the sooner this was over, the better. She still had a gut feeling about this.

"We're under attack!" A voice shouted over the radio.

"Get these people outta here!" She shouted. Mako and Bolin started herding people into the judge's quarters to be moved out the other side, Asami and Tenzin joined in the effort. Meanwhile, another voice rang out,

"Equalists attacking the south entrance!" The moment Lin heard that she grabbed Noatak up by the front of his shirt, "Call off your lackeys!"

"I didn't arrange this, Chief Beifong." He replied calmly, but if one were look, they'd notice a bit of sweat coming from his temple.

"Bar the doors!" She roared. Grabbing him and motioning for Korra to grab his brother. They heard the snapping of wood, the equalists were already at the doors, with a battering ram by the sounds of it, "You know where to take them?"

"I know." The ramming stopped. It should be a good sign, but it only brought them both to dread what was coming.

"Good, get them there." She ordered, shoving Korra, and her prisoners through the exit before twisting the metal of the handle to bar it shut. There was a second of quiet as she began to make her way to the front lines, that stillness seemed to last for eternity. Then the door shattered, sending her officers and debris in every direction. Lin it the ground, the sound of the blast ringing in her ears so painfully.

…..

"Is that everyone?" An officer asked as they made it out of the building. The reinforcements had arrived not a moment to soon, Bolin could only hope they weren't a moment too late either.

"No. Avatar Korra and Chief Beifong are still in there." With a lot of wounded cops, but they didn't need Tenzin to tell them that part, that was a given.

"I'm going back!" Bolin didn't wait for anyone to tell him okay to run back in, neither did Mako and Asami. Tenzin was right behind them with three more officers, together they all headed towards basement, where they'd take the bloodbender brothers in an emergency. Along the way, equalists came at them from the side. Without missing a beat, Asami extended a blade, gracefully cut the energy source off her opponent's glove and flipped him over her head. Bolin took out another with a cable, wrapping it around a leg and throwing them into the wall. Tenzin airblasted two more unconscious.

…..

They were running right past her, and why wouldn't they? Their leader wasn't there and there were only two other doors to leave through. Two very easy to open doors, with the explosives they were carrying. _'Get up, Beifong.' _she ordered herself_ 'Push through the damn pain!'_ She willed herself to get to her feet, and to chase them through the second door.

"Wait, Chief!" Someone called, but they didn't sound frightened. She stopped, turned and saw the Water Tribe lunatic, in a soldier helmet, behind a fort of benches, waving his arm over his head at her, "Could you strike a heroic pose for the camera?"

"Why didn't you-never mind!" she started back on her chase, not caring about those idiots, there were more important things to worry about. "Tǎoyàn, find Korra!"

"Zhu-li! Grab the camera! She's about to do the thing!"

…...

Korra barricaded the door to the basement, and lit a fire in her hand. The sounds of a battle were taking place above them, and she hated she was stuck babysitting Tarrlok and Amon. People up there needed her help. A loud bang was heard as something, or someone, slammed against the door. And again. The avatar got into a stance and waited for the intruders to get through. They blasted the door open, ran down the steps..then were pushed down them by Tenzin's airbending.

"Quickly, Korra! This way!" He urged her out, and she didn't need to be told twice, she was ready to go knock some heads together. A group waited outside for them, including the rest of team avatar.

"Let's go." Mako tried to move the group.

"We don't have a clear path to any exit." A nonbending officer pointed out, but that was before a much larger group of equalists came running at them.

"Well, we can't just stand around!" Bolin shouting, pushing the man to get him moving.

"Brother." Noatak grabbed his brother's arm as they made a break for it, "I just want you to know, I'm sorry I had to take your bending." His heartfelt apology was answered with a nod.

"It's alright, Noatak."

…...

Tǎoyàn had Korra's scent, and it turned out that the avatar was on the move and going in the opposite direction of where she'd been told to go. Big shock. She followed the animal, hoping to catch up when she heard Bolin shout '_Well, we can't just stand around__!_'. What the hell was he doing in here?! She followed the voice and the hound down the hallway, plowing through the occasional equalist in her path until they finally came into her view. They managed to get themselves surrounded by the enemy. The idiots! Now all she had to do was get through the large number of equalists to get to them.

…...

A fight had started just after they got surrounded. They all instantly decided that if they were going down, they were going down swinging. Out of the corner of everyone's eye, the nonbender cop fell down. Tarrlok used this to his advantage, grabbing the side dagger that fell out of his hand. Those who saw it had thought he was going to use it to defend himself and so they continued to deal with their own opponents. But he didn't go for the nearest equalist, he didn't go for any cop, or Beifong, or Sato, but his own brother. Mako stepped in, extending his blade and blocking the knife from piercing Amon's heart, then kicked him away. He couldn't continue his attack because a chi blocker came up out of nowhere and got him in the leg. He stumbled, but recovered, bringing up the blade to use as a sort of shield against the new challenger while Tarrlok dealt with a new adversary of his own.

Bolin knocked his opponent down, then did a double take. He saw Tarrlok knock a woman to the ground, but he really wasn't seeing the man sneaking up on Mako with a knife, was he? There was no time to think, out of instinct he ran up and thrust his blade forward, right into Tarrlok's side.


End file.
